


Nu A/B/O

by feminabeata



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Fluffy Angst, M/M, Wolf Behavior, angst at first and fluff later, my version
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-03-15 12:51:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 43,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3447881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feminabeata/pseuds/feminabeata
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dongwoo has been a follower for way too long. He's leaving his pack and starting life anew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my take of the a/b/o theme, and I'm taking great liberties with it. First things first, no MPREG exists in this universe. Also I'm trying to mimic wolf behaviors more closely, hence the packs. This also means that omegas will essentially be like wolf female alphas.
> 
> **poster beautifully and cutely done by Chloe @kim-sunggyu.tumblr.com or on twitter @kyutestpie**

Cold. Ice cold. Completely frozen.

Dongwoo wondered if this was what death felt like, feeling so much and then nothing, entirely nothing at all. He was numb. He couldn’t sense his knees hitting the floor with a loud thud, nor the streams of tears trailing down his cheeks.

For all he cared, he could be dead or dying. It would be just the same.

His life began to flash before his eyes.

He was thirteen again, and his small trembling hands were clutching onto piece of paper. “No, this can’t be right, seonsaeng-nim. It can’t be!” Dongwoo protested. His eyelids were growing hot with tears brewing behind them. He was afraid, confused, and defiant. He couldn’t accept this as his fate.

 _One in a thousand_ , he repeated in his head. Those were the chances of this happening, one in a thousand.

“I’m sorry, Dongwoo-goon. Those are the test results,” his doctor said, kneeling down next to him. “You’re an…”

Then the teacher was gone. Dongwoo was now fourteen, laying down on his bed with a large book laid out in front of him. His fingertips were tracing the ancient letters.

“Alpha…beta…gamma, delta, epsilon, zeta, eta, theta, iota, kappa, lambda, nu, mu, ksi, omicron, pi, rho, sigma, tao, upsilon, phi, chi, psi…omega…why can’t I be a ksi? Then I could be seksi! Kyakyakyakya!”

Dongwoo lifted his head from the book. Suddenly he was sixteen and in class. He swallowed hard and shot glances at the girl to the right of him and then to the girl at the left. A throat cleared from in front of the room. Dongwoo snapped back into attention. Even the teacher was female.

“Weak, fragile, submissive,” the woman spoke as she walked down the aisle of classroom. Her heels clicked harshly against the tile. Each step echoed ominously through his ears, like the ticking of the clock. The teacher dictated the time here. But then she stopped at Dongwoo’s desk, looking down at him. Her glasses slipped down the bridge of her nose as the corners of her lips quirked upwards. “Female,” the teacher added in a light tone. Several girls in the class let out a snigger, and Dongwoo squirmed under the gaze of his teacher, feeling hot with embarrassment. The teacher let out a slight laugh herself and pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. “These are stereotypes of an omega, and as you can all see for yourselves, they are wrong.”

She walked back up the aisle of the room and spun on her heels, facing the class once again. “First, let’s address the elephant in the room, or boy,” she joked with a warm smile. Dongwoo was mollified, releasing a breath he had been holding for too long. The teacher was truly an expert omega to have such a calming effect on him, and yet there was still something strict and utterly authoritative about her. Dongwoo didn’t want to do anything that might set her off.

“Population control,” she answered with a shrug, leaning against the chalkboard. “Our bodies react to the needs of the species. You have learned this before from your biology classes, but you’ve learned it in the context that many females do become betas and infertile when the population in the area had become too high. But rarely, very rarely,” the teacher emphasized as her eyes narrowed on Dongwoo. There was a sparkle of curiosity in her eyes. She was, like most of the other girls in the class, fascinated by his presence. “One in a thousand chance, a male becomes an omega.”

“We know this already, seonsaeng-nim!” a girl spoke up from the back of the classroom. Her hand was in the air, commanding attention. It was Sojin, one of his closest friends. A smile broke out on his face at her coming to his defense. “They told us when Dongwoo’s results came back.”

“Freak,” another girl sneered from behind Dongwoo. It wasn’t anything new to him. He had actually grown accustomed to it so much so that he didn’t even flinch. He let it roll off like water, flowing off of his back.

And the slur hadn’t escaped the teacher’s notice either. “And this is exactly why I’m bringing it to your attention.” She lifted herself from the chalkboard and took a step closer to the class. “If we are to accept that all omegas are female, are we also to accept that we are weak? Submissive? That alphas and betas are first, and we are dead last. Well, are we?” she asked now focusing her attention on a girl in the front row who had giggled at Dongwoo’s nickname.

“No, m’am,” the teenager yielded.

“Precisely,” the teacher remarked with a crooked smile, a canine bit into her red lip. “There’s seems to be more than one stereotype that I need to dismiss.” She stepped backwards and announced to the class, “We are omegas, not because we’re last, but because we are at the opposite ends of the spectrum.  And also because _we_ have the _final_ say, especially when it comes to mating, child bearing and rearing. Don’t let the bravado of alphas and betas fool you. They are the weak ones when it comes to their precious omegas.” And this time the teacher delights in the giggles filling her classroom, and for the first time Dongwoo joins with the rest of his classmates.

“But sadly, there are also other falsehoods that need to be addressed,” and with that statement, the room fell silent. “We all do not mate for life. If the population gets too low, your mate might take another. _You_ might take another. And then mates, of course, can also be separated by sickness and death…infertility,” the teacher paused. Her eyes fell on Dongwoo again. His eyes grew wide. This, he hadn’t thought of yet. He was only sixteen. Of course he had fantasies about meeting and falling in love with his mate, but nothing about what would follow afterwards.

The teacher’s eyes left his. “The number one priority is always the survival of the pack. Never forget that.” Accompanying that ominous statement the bell rang, dismissing the class.

Dongwoo gathered his belongings and dragged his feet across the smooth tile floor. His mind was swimming with thoughts, mostly worries. “Dongwoo.” His head perked up at the sound of his name.

“Yes, m’am.”

“Given your situation, the chances of your mate leaving you drastically goes up,” his teacher spoke the harsh truth as kindly as she can. “You have to protect your heart. Be careful.”

“I…I know, m’am,” he responded, clutching tightly onto the straps of his bookbag. He could feel his shoulders tense. He was completely tense. Dongwoo always had the tendency to express everything he felt with his entire body, and he always felt too much.

But then he felt hands fall upon his shoulders, doing their best to gently massage away the tightness. He raised his head and saw the warm look on his teacher’s face.

“Just because you can’t have a child, it doesn’t make you any less of an omega.”

Her face the blurred, blending into the background. Everything was growing hazy, dark, and hot. Dongwoo was slick with sweat. The air around him was scarcely breathable. It was thick, thick with musk and pheromones. But he needed to breathe. He was gasping for air, shivering. But he wasn’t cold. No, his body felt as if it were on fire. And like always, he was feeling way too much, more than he had felt in his twenty years of life.

A loud groan slipped passed his lips. He tried his best to hold it in, but now he could feel his whole body going limp, wracked with pleasure and pain, void of energy and control.

“Sh!” he heard a hiss blow past the shell of his ear. “Be quiet or they’ll hear you.”

“Taehwan-hyung…sorry,” Dongwoo slurred, drunk from his high. Taehwan was Woohyun’s brother’s friend. In fact, they were both in the Nam household at the moment, supposed to be enjoying the party the brothers were throwing. But Dongwoo unexpectedly went into heat. He had miscalculated. He didn’t think that it would come for another month. He didn’t take the necessary precautions. Then Sojin had gone into heat, and it wasn’t uncommon for omegas with a close-bond to go into heat at the same time. Dongwoo had caught it.

Dongwoo tried to escape into Woohyun’s mother’s bathroom, searching for some expired suppressants that he could shovel into his mouth by the handful, hoping that it would cool down his heat. But as he was pouring pills into his palm, Taehwan’s strong hands gripped his shoulders and pulled Dongwoo into a warm embrace. The alpha had hunted down the scent of the heat within seconds of it starting, and now he was deeply inhaling it from the crook of Dongwoo’s neck.

Dongwoo was told that omegas were in control when it came to mating, but that night, their hormones called the shots. He sent the pills clattering onto the floor and spun around, latching onto Taehwan’s lips with his own. And Dongwoo was just grateful that it was Taehwan, a hyung that he had known for years. A nice hyung who often treated him and was always kind to him. A hyung that Dongwoo might’ve been harboring a crush for. And so Taehwan finding him that night was the best that he could have hoped for. That night, they became mates.

But now, right now, Dongwoo was pulled back into reality. He finally realized that his forehead was grazing the floor and his hands were clawing fruitlessly at the floorboards. On his knees, bowing down, completely submissive, Dongwoo was begging. “Don’t…” he choked back a sob. “Don’t do this.”

Taehwan stood over him. “The bond has been broken for over a week. You should know. You _have_ to know,” he insisted.

And Dongwoo did know. He felt the bond weakening months before, and recently it was hanging on by mere threads. But two Mondays ago the threads snapped, and it all fell apart. Dongwoo fell apart right along with it. He hadn’t been eating. He had barely been drinking. Woohyun had noticed it, but there was nothing that he could do. Woohyun was only a beta, and Taehwan was the alpha, the leader of their small pack.

Fingers grabbed at the edges of Dongwoo’s sharp jaw, forcing the omega’s head up slowly. Taehwan scanned Dongwoo’s tearful face with pity. “I love you, Woo,” he said, and Dongwoo believed that he was sincere. It just wasn’t the love that he wanted or needed. Dongwoo averted the other’s gaze, fixing his eyes on the corner of the room, but he immediately regrets it. He had forgotten. Sitting in that corner was Sojin. Her head was buried in her knees, ashamed. “But I love her too, and she’s better for me,” Taehwan continued. “She’s pregnant.”

“I know,” Dongwoo responded in a strangled voice. “I can smell it.” He pulled himself up until he was sitting on top of his heels. He threw his head back and stared at the ceiling. He took in a deep, shaking breath. “I could smell it the moment she stepped inside.”

“Then you know what I have to do,” Taehwan said in a soft voice. Dongwoo laughed. Even when he was throwing Dongwoo out on his butt, Taehwan still spoke with such false kindness. _But…the number one priority is the survival of the pack…screw the pack! What about me?_

“Please…please don’t do this, hyung,” Dongwoo begged. “I have nowhere to go.”

“Your parents will take you in,” Taehwan answered so quickly.

Dongwoo opened up his mouth, about to respond with whatever his sluggish tongue could muster, but he was cut off. “Dongwoo, please,” Sojin begged from the corner. She finally had lifted her head. Sojin stood up, slightly stumbling, and made her way to the alpha. But Dongwoo could see her strength returning with each step. And by the time she reached Taehwan, she was standing up straight, her shoulders were back, her chin was pointed up as she looked down at her old friend. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

Omegas really did seem to have the final say because after hearing that, Dongwoo finally gave in and stepped outside of the house, outside of his pack. But before slamming the door closed, he cursed, “F**k you both.”

After all, he was an omega too. He had to have the last word.


	2. Phase I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT: I don’t know how to integrate this into the story, but I think that there are a few things that I need to explain further. There are packs, headed by an alpha of course. These packs are essentially, extended families, so I’ll be calling some members aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, even though they aren’t biologically related. And like all families, the number of alphas/betas/omegas differ. Male betas can impregnate omegas, but female betas are infertile. I mentioned population control in the previous chapter, so also means that the human population is significantly smaller than in our own world. So this makes Dongwoo even rarer and even more precious. :)

Sunggyu was leaning back in his desk chair, arms behind his head and eyes closed. And although he was in his office, behind his eyelids he was in a different world. It was snowing. He always liked the cold, but he mostly liked because it meant that he could stay indoors and not feel guilty. He could be stagnant. And maybe that’s why visualizing this snowy day was such a fantasy. He had appointment after appointment, a mountain of paperwork to fill, and small conflicts that he needed to smolder. And this day-dream snow lodge was his refuge.

But his day dream didn’t end there. As he was on a sofa with a wool blanket covering him, just watching the snowfall, a soft voice echoed in his head, “Sunggyu-ah.” It was his mate. A faceless, amorphous blob for now, but a warm one. The mate crawled under the blanket with him and wrapped itself around Sunggyu. The faceless head rested its head on his shoulder. “It’s so cold,” his mate spoke with a shiver.

Sunggyu wiggled his eyebrows. “Should I warm you up?” Sunggyu leaned in closer to his imaginary mate. And as he leaned in closer and closer, a nose and a pair of lips appeared on the formerly faceless head. But with that something else appeared: a stomach turning stench. Well, this wasn’t a part of his fantasy.

His eyes fluttered open, and he almost fell backwards in his chair out of fright. “Yah! Get that away from me!” he yelled as he pushed the container away from under his nose. Then he frantically rubbed his nose and blew out air forcefully from his nostrils to dispel the horrid stench. He glared at the man sitting on his desk, who was laughing in glee as he screwed the cap back onto the container. Sunggyu had his nose buried in the sleeve of his white coat. “What the hell is that?”

The man shrugged as he studied the container and watched the dark yellow liquid slosh back and forth in it. “I don’t know. Looks like a urine sample,” he spoke in a slick voice as he placed the container back on the desk. “I just wanted to see if you could smell it.”

“Yah, Myungsoo-ah, my sense of smell is superior to yours,” Sunggyu argued pulling himself up straight. “And put that back where you found it! I have a system!” he complained, pointing at the urine sample.

Myungsoo got up from the desk to return the sample back to where he found it without a fight, mostly. “Right, hyung. Your nose is stuffed up most of the time. I’m surprised that you can even breathe,” he remarked, putting the sample back on the shelf with the others and turned back to Sunggyu with a cheeky smile.

“I can breathe just fine,” Sunggyu combated and sniffed loudly. Unfortunately for him, he was suffering from a cold and his nose was actually congested, which resulted in a smug looking Myungsoo, who thought that he had won the argument as his hyung kept sniffing.

“Fine. You can breathe, but your sense of smell…”Myungsoo said and broke into a laugh.

“It sucks, I know,” Sunggyu finally relented to the other. He crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes were fixed on the blue carpet of his office. “I just can’t smell one thing,” he mumbled. Then he lifted his eyes and meet Myungsoo’s. “But I can smell everything else.”

Myungsoo nodded in agreement as he sat back down onto Sunggyu’s desk. “Of course! Hyung is jjang,” he gave his hyung the thumbs up and encouragement he needed.

Sunggyu laughed and asked, “So did you come here just to make fun of me? I have a lot of work to do. I do run this clinic.”

“Let’s eat lunch! I’m starving,” Myungsoo lamented as he rubbed his belly, frowning. But the frown morphed into a small smile. “And you know what Mom always says: a pack that eats together, stays together.”

“Didn’t you hear me? I have a lot of work to do. I don’t know if I can. I’m sorry,” Sunggyu apologized as he patted Myungsoo’s knee. He then pulled back. “Besides, it’s my mom, not yours.”

Myungsoo’s frown returned, and he stuffed his hands into his pockets. “But we’re a pack. Isn’t she my mom too?”

Sunggyu sighed as he watched Myungsoo grow more disgruntled. Essentially, Myungsoo was his brother now, but his parents were still alive. Hell, even Myungsoo’s own biological brother, Moonsoo, was still alive. But his familial pack had fallen apart. Myungsoo’s father had been the alpha of the pack; his mother was the omega. Myungsoo also had some Uncle and Auntie betas (Uncle Jungyeop and Auntie Kyunglim and their mates). Myungsoo himself was a beta too, but Moonsoo wasn’t. He was an alpha, and when Moonsoo reached adulthood, like all alphas, he vied for command of the pack. Of course, Moonsoo couldn’t sway the betas whom had been loyal to his father for decades, but Myungsoo was still up for grabs. And instead of choosing between his father and brother, Myungsoo ran away. For two years, he roamed the country, exploring both the land and himself (while also practicing his photography). He was a lone wolf. However after those two long years ended, Sunggyu found Myungsoo at his doorsteps. Evidentially, Myungsoo grew tired of being alone and decided to settle himself into Sunggyu’s pack, Sunggyu whom he had known his whole life and lived just across the street (which was great because Myungsoo also missed his original pack).

Finding your own pack was a natural part of growing up. It was a milestone, just like being potty-trained, losing your first tooth, and graduating from high school. So what happened to Myungsoo wasn’t out of the ordinary, and Sunggyu had a feeling that his close dongsaeng would want to form a pack with him. But Sunggyu was the weird one. He was nearly thirty and was still living with his parents, his original pack. He was a beta. His father was also a beta. Sunggyu was also still on good terms with his alpha, Uncle Hyungdon, who pretty much left him alone unless the elder wanted to tease and play around with his ‘nephew.’ But one by one, Sunggyu’s ‘cousins’ left the pack, even his noona had left and mated with an alpha. Soon, Sunggyu was the only pup left. It was just him and the elder members of the pack, until Myungsoo joined a few years ago.

So, yes, they were family, and yes, Sunggyu guessed that his mother was now Myungsoo’s. “What do you want to eat?”

Myungsoo perked up. “Are you buying?”

Sunggyu scoffed. “We’ll put it on the pack’s credit card.”

“Call!” Myungsoo agreed, jumping off from the desk. “Oh! Can we go to Uncle Jungyeop’s restaurant?”

Sunggyu chuckled, taking off his white lab coat and placed it on a hook. “Do we go anywhere else?” he joked as he put on a black hoodie. “Let me just tell my secretary that I’m going out.” Sunggyu then walked out of the office with Myungsoo close on his tail, but stopped abruptly outside of his office doors where his secretary’s desk was located.

“Doctor?” she asked expectantly.

“I’m going out to lunch with Myungsoo. I should be back for my afternoon appointments,” Sunggyu announced to her.

She nodded cheerfully and looked past her employer to the man standing next to him. “Have a lovely meal,” she spoke in a voice that Sunggyu knew was more pleasant than usual.

Myungsoo smiled and nodded. “You too,” he returned. The girl giggled bashfully and tucked a piece of hair behind her ears.

“Alright, we’ll be going,” Sunggyu said, pulling Myungsoo down the hall with him. After he was out of earshot of his secretary (whom he knew would be eavesdropping), he scoffed. She had been putting on such a front, acting so lady-like. Sunggyu was used to her being brash, blunt, cursing at him for being lazy and at her slow computer, but every time Myungsoo would come around, she would blossom into a delicate flower. “Yah,” he nudged the other. “I told you that Minyoung liked you. If you’re interested, I can even tell you when she’ll be going into heat next.”

Myungsoo shook his head and pushed back at his hyung. “No, no,” he emphatically turned him down. “I don’t want to get a mate before you do, hyung.”

Sunggyu stopped, feeling his stomach drop. “But Myungsoo…you know that I can’t…”  

“Hyung,” Sunggyu looked up at Myungsoo calling to him. “You don’t need an omega. Not all betas even mate with omegas. It’s all a part of…”

“Population control, I know. It’s my f***ing job,” Sunggyu cursed, but he couldn’t help it. Myungsoo was treading on sensitive territory, and the younger knew it too. This wouldn’t be the first time Sunggyu had snapped at the other. But Myungsoo had a habit of bull-heading a subject, not knowing when to drop it.

“Hyung,” Myungsoo began again.

“You know, Myungsoo. You know that it’s _all_ sex pheromones.”

The truth was: Sunggyu’s sense of smell sucked. It truly sucked. He couldn’t tell the difference between alphas, betas, and omegas by scent. Also, he couldn’t sniff out areas very well that were ‘marked’ (‘marking’ territories was now considered to be a primitive practice, but gangs still marked their territories in seedier parts of towns. And because Sunggyu couldn’t smell these, he had accidentally wandered several times into dangerous territories). But worse of all, he couldn’t smell sex pheromones, even the strong scent of discharge secreted by omegas when in heat. He had even been locked in a room with an omega in heat before (Hyungdon had called it an ‘experiment’). It was a scent that was supposed to be irresistible. He was supposed to feel an insatiable need to mate with the girl, but all he felt was pity for the poor girl that somehow got roped into Hyungdon’s experiment ‘for science.’ He wrapped a blanket around the girl tightly (half to comfort her and half to bind her grabby hands to her body), and then he banged on the door until someone opened it and let the two of them go. That day his pack finally accepted his disability (and that day he had also met Minyoung, who thankfully was a lot less handsy after she had taken some suppressants to control her heat).

But Sunggyu couldn’t accept it. He couldn’t understand it. Was it because his father was a beta and not an alpha? No, more and more litters were cropping up from beta-omega couples. And none of the babies had a disability like his. Anosmia? No, he could smell fried chicken from miles away. In fact, it seemed like the only thing he _could_ sniff out well was food. A dysfunction in his nether regions? Nope, that was operating fine, trust him, but just never when it was supposed to. No, the only answer that made sense was: population control. The year he was born, there was a great swell in the birth rate. This resulted in the highest percentage of female betas in centuries…and in Sunggyu’s disability, he supposed. He was guaranteed by his nature as a beta that would not produce off-spring. He might be asexual

He _might_ be, but he wasn’t entirely convinced because he still felt this desire to find a mate, to fall in love. He wanted someone to care for him just like in his fantasy, which might only ever be just a fantasy. Because Sunggyu also wasn’t convinced that he could form any lasting bond with anyone, if he couldn’t react to pheromones.

And because of all of this, Sunggyu devoted his life to researching this subject, searching for the answer. He had yet to find an answer, article, or textbook to satisfy his curiosity, but all of his studies weren’t completely fruitless. He now ran his own fertility clinic, where his unique disability had become an advantage because he could easily handle chemicals and heat-ridden patients that would send non-omega doctors into a tizzy. But not Sunggyu. Never Sunggyu.

He then felt a pat on his shoulder, and he lifted his head to see his dongsaeng smiling encouragingly at him. “Don’t worry, hyung. I’m sure that you’ll find somebody,” Myungsoo spoke in a gentle tone.

_Yea, well, that makes one of us._

* * *

“Please hand me your ID,” the woman commanded from behind the desk and stretched out her hand towards Dongwoo. The omega searched through his duffle bag and pulled out his wallet. Slightly trembling, he handed it over.

“Jang Dongwoo, beta,” he declared with a yawn. “Ah! I’m so sleepy,” he lied attributing his tremors to fatigue rather than nervousness. He breathed a sigh of relief as the lady returned the ID without a second thought.

For the last few years, ever since he moved to this town with Taehwan and the Nam brothers, Dongwoo always hid the fact that he was an omega. It just made things easier. In this small town, he was the only male omega. Actually he was the only male omega in the region (well, there was always the possibility that they were hiding like he was). And because of that, Very few establishments were prepared to accommodate his….needs. In this case, the changing room at the local sauna. He obviously couldn’t invade the omega changing room, filled with women suspicious about his presence. And they preferred to keep omegas separate from the others, just in case one of them would go into heat.

Taehwan graciously got a fake ID made for Dongwoo and even provided him with cologne and rinses that would make Dongwoo smell like a beta. No one was ever the wiser, especially since Dongwoo was always on guard, controlling when he went into heat and requesting vacation for those weeks. No one ever suspected. And why would they? Dongwoo held the ID card in his hand as he walked over to the male betas’ changing rooms. He watched as his fingers caressed the edges. He then watched as his thumb ran over his information. Him being a beta also meant that his relationship with Taehwan wasn’t public. Alphas mate with omegas, and Dongwoo supposedly wasn’t one. Taehwan just introduced him to everyone as just a regular member of his pack. No one special. Just a plain old beta. Outside of his pack, no one ever knew about them.

Dongwoo changed his clothes and entered the hot room. He couldn’t shake off this cold feeling. The broken bond had shaken him to his core, even though it had been broken for over a week now. He was fragile, in body, mind…spirit. It wasn’t as bad as the night that it happened, when he mated with Sojin. It felt as if he had been split into two. One half of him was set on fire, and the other half was just, dead. Ever since then, when the fever died down, he was cold. But getting thrown out that night, it reopened that wound. And Dongwoo didn’t know if he could heal fully. How deep the scar would be.

After several minutes, Dongwoo’s mouth grew dry, and he took it as a sign that he was in there for too long. He was getting dehydrated. He clenched his fist. The tips of his fingers were like ice. Still, it was time to leave.

Dongwoo then sat down in the open room, watching the others who had come with their packs. Some formed massage trains, others were curled up in a corner, sleeping in a pile. Most were idly chatting. Maybe this was a bad idea, Dongwoo thought. With every turn of his head, Dongwoo was being reminded of the family that he left behind. So he closed his eyes. That didn’t help either. The image of Taehwan and Sojin standing together, as a unit, was burned into his mind. But, Dongwoo would’ve had to have been a fool if he hadn’t seen it coming. And he was smarter and more astute than people gave him credit for.

Sojin had always liked Taehwan too, almost as long as Dongwoo had. She was just better at hiding it. But Dongwoo had always been aware of it. She couldn’t hide the shy smiles and the blooming blush on her cheeks whenever the alpha was near. Neither of them acknowledged their mutual crushes. Neither of them thought that they stood a chance. Then the party happened, and Dongwoo mated with Taehwan. And he didn’t see Sojin for a least a month afterwards. But then she showed up back at his side, acting as if nothing had changed and still filling in his role as a close friend. When he announced that he was moving, Sojin decided to come along, claiming that she could find her pack there. Well, she technically did.

And Dongwoo would have also been blind not to see the subtle glances Taehwan always threw in her direction, the lingering touches, and even light sniffs. The alpha returned her affection. It wasn’t just a physical attraction either. The two complimented each other. It was obvious that they were mean for each other, and Dongwoo had stolen Taehwan away. It was obvious that Taehwan was never supposed to be his.

At that thought, Dongwoo felt tears gather in the corner of his eyes. No. He won’t be that one lone wolf, crying in the corner of the sauna. He tried hard to dam them up inside, but he felt the pressure grow behind his eyelids and his nose beginning to run. He never had complete control over his emotions, even moreso now when he’s already weak.

Whack!

“Geez! I didn’t hit you _that_ hard.” Dongwoo rubbed his sore head and turned to see Woohyun, also wearing the usual sauna garb even with the towel wrapped around his head like lamb ears. The beta was peeling the shell of the hard boiled egg that he had just cracked on Dongwoo’s head. Woohyun side-eyed him carefully and then grinned as he joked, “There’s no need to cry over that.”

Dongwoo lunged at the other, wrapping his arms around Woohyun in a tight hug.“Nam-goon!” he exclaimed with his voice shaking a bit. The tears began to fall.

And so did Woohyun’s egg. “My egg!” Woohyun cried as he tried to peel Dongwoo off of him (half-heartedly) and failed. He grabbed fruitlessly at the egg rolling on the floor.

Dongwoo then let go, picked up the egg, and stuffed it into Woohyun’s open mouth. “There!” he said with a slight laugh. He sniffed and began to dab away the tears. Woohyun tore the towel from his head, and still chewing, he began wiping his friend’s tears. Once Dongwoo had a better grip on things, he gestured at Woohyun to stop and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I left the pack too!” Woohyun responded excitedly as he wrapped the towel around his neck.

“Why? Why? Why?”

“What do you mean: why?” Woohyun almost sounded offended. He then put his arm around the omega’s shoulders. “You’re my best friend,” he spoke softly. “I mean, hyung is alright, but there’s no reason to stay if you’re not there.” He rubbed his hand up and down Dongwoo’s upper arm. “And why didn’t you tell me hyung was cheating on you?”

“Ah, that,” Dongwoo croaked, throat tightening again. Woohyun had known that something was wrong with Dongwoo almost the moment that the bond broke. And Dongwoo had lied, claiming that it was a really bad case of the flu because, “I didn’t want to cause trouble.” Then he looked up, staring at the beta directly. “Besides it was Sojinnie.” Woohyun looked away and played with the hem of his shorts with restless fingers. Woohyun had liked Sojin, just as much and just as long as Dongwoo liked Taehwan. And just as fruitless. Dongwoo and Woohyun foolishly hoped that Sojin had followed to mate with Woohyun and join the pack that way. And Dongwoo believed that Sojin honestly had tried with Woohyun, but her heart just wasn’t in it; it wasn’t his. The three of them had been close friends for so long, only to be torn apart in one of the worst ways possible, leaving all three heartbroken.

“Yea, I know,” Woohyun admitted. He cleared his throat and looked back at Dongwoo. The grip on Dongwoo’s arm tightened. There was a stern glint in Woohyun’s eyes. “But whatever happens between you two affects the rest of us. He’s the alpha, and you’re the omega,“ he lectured. And Dongwoo was well aware. Because of his careless, they had to quickly and haphazardly form a pack. But a strong pack is built upon the bond between the alpha and his mate. In their case, the bond was always tenuous. Now they were reaping the consequences. There was a rift, and the pack was crumbling apart.

“Not anymore,” Dongwoo said with a resigned sigh.

Woohyun then leaned in close, with the tip of his nose grazing the back of Dongwoo’s neck. He sniffed the other. “Nope still are. You reek of it,” Woohyun teased as he pulled and grimaced.

“I do?” Dongwoo asked anxiously as he sniffed himself. This would be the last thing he needed, his beta cover being removed.

“Merong!” Woohyun stuck out his tongue. Dongwoo breathed a short sigh of relief but also shoved his friend. Woohyun wasn’t bothered by it. He nudged the omega. “Hey! Follow me,” he ordered in a whisper and gestured at the other to follow him. Woohyun then stood up and began to walk away. Dongwoo was a bit slow to follow (leaving the hot room was the last thing he expected), but he quickly got up and caught up with Woohyun in the betas’ locker room. When inside, Woohyun waved him over to the locker. He had a large duffle bag in his hands. And the sneaky grin on Woohyun’s face made the hairs on the back of Dongwoo’s neck stand on its ends. Whatever the beta had done, it obviously wasn’t kosher, so Dongwoo approached with great caution. Woohyun’s eyes darted back and forth, to make sure no one else was still watching and unzipped the bag, revealing small stacks of cash filling the bag. “Look what I got before I left! I emptied out the pack’s joint banking account before I left,” Woohyun whispered excitedly as he quickly zipped up the bag again, hiding the money back in his locker.

“Yah! Nam Woohyun!” Dongwoo exclaimed, reaching to take out the bag. He couldn’t believe Woohyun had taken the money. ‘Stolen’ would actually be the more appropriate word. They weren’t technically part of the pack before, and there was no way that Taehwan had given him permission. Dongwoo didn’t even _want_ to know how Woohyun had convinced the bank teller to give him all of that money without a fellow member of the pack present….without the alpha present (but knowing Woohyun there was probably lots of slick words, winks, and ‘accidental’ grazes).

Woohyun ripped the duffle bag from Dongwoo’s grip and curled his body around it, protecting it as if it was his pup. “It’s the least Taehwan-hyung can do for us after having us put up with all of his shit,” he argued.

Dongwoo huffed, “But the baby.”

That seemed to bring the beta back into reality. A guilty expression flashed across Woohyun’s face. “Okay so we’ll leave a couple thousand and…”

“Nam-goon!” Dongwoo cut his friend off. “We can’t!” Dongwoo reached for the bag again.

The beta was too quick. He folded onto the floor, completely hiding the bag under his body. And then he actually growled at Dongwoo and bared his teeth. “We can! And we will!” he insisted, looking up at the omega, who was still standing, defiantly. After staring at each other for a few seconds, both waiting for the other to yield, Dongwoo finally did, like he usually did. He sat down next to Woohyun with his hands raised, showing that he wouldn’t try to take the bag again. Woohyun then straightened up and rest his back against the lockers, and Dongwoo did the same. Woohyun side-eyed his friend and scoffed, “F**k, Dongwoo…Ever since you got with hyung, you’ve been so god damn accommodating.” The tone of his voice was almost like he had expected Dongwoo to put up more of a fight. “You’re too nice, and he took advantage of you.”

“No, he didn’t,” the omega denied.

“No?” Woohyun challenged, cocking an eyebrow. “How about when he made you move from Guri to his hometown out in the middle of f***ing nowhere?”

Dongwoo shook his head, “But he has a lot of land there and…”

Woohyun interrupted. His voice was growing louder and angrier, “Or when you wanted to study Oriental medicine but he said getting a business degree was more useful?”

“But he had a point…” Dongwoo argued with a shrug.

“When was the last time we ate something that you wanted to eat?” Woohyun was almost shouting at this point, as if he could drill his point into Dongwoo with his volume.

“That doesn’t matter,” Dongwoo matched him, decibel for decibel. They were beginning to draw eyes from other betas, lingering in the locker room.

Woohyun took note and finally lowered his voice. “It does!” he whispered harshly.

Dongwoo began to wind his finger through the bag’s straps. He wasn’t going to take it, but he was feeling more and more restless. His fingers were itching. Also he couldn’t match Woohyun’s gaze (which was intently focused on him), so the omega just watch his fingers twirl around the woven fabric. “Maybe for you,” Dongwoo finally began. “But I don’t really care about that.” He finally looked up, meeting Woohyun’s eyes. “Plus hyung’s tastes match my own, and I have a good job because of hyung. He recommended me to the company. And I like being in the country! The air is fresh, and there’s a lot of room to play and…”

“You guys never have sex unless you’re in heat.”

Dongwoo lunged forward and covered the other’s mouth. “Y-yah!” he stammered. He looked around anxiously. Thankfully no one heard the loose-lipped beta.

But unfortunately, that beta wasn’t done yet. He quickly removed Dongwoo’s hand. The look in Woohyun’s eyes were more serious than Dongwoo had seen in years. “And even then, that’s only sometimes.” Dongwoo narrowed his stare and opened his mouth to fight back, but Woohyun wouldn’t allow it. “Don’t look at me like that. Boohyun-hyung and I know. Like I said, what happens between you two affects all of us. We _know_.”

“He’s just not that affectionate,” Dongwoo whispered. It was a weak defense, but it was the only one he had. The only one that he had for years. The only one that Taehwan had told him whenever Dongwoo had wanted to get physically closer.

“But you need it,” Woohyun spoke softly. He reached over and massaged Dongwoo’s shoulder with his hand. He could quickly see his hyung melt under his touch; he could see all the tension leave the omega’s body. Dongwoo then leaned against the other. He was embarrassed. Apparently his little secret of going to Woohyun whenever he wanted hugs or other forms of tactile comfort, wasn’t so much of a secret. Woohyun had known the whole time and hadn’t held it against him until now.

Dongwoo lost. He lost this argument. They lost their pack. And he finally lost faith in Taehwan “The bond’s already broken,” Woohyun said as he leaned against the other, continuing to massage the elder. “You guys are done. There’s no need to try to protect him anymore. Let it go.”

Slowly Dongwoo could feel a lump forming in the back of his throat again. “I can’t,” he choked. He threw back his head. It slammed against the lockers but he didn’t care. He just wanted to force the tears back. “Not yet. The paperwork. He’s still my legal guardian. Your’s too.” He needed some solid ground, some logical reason for why he couldn’t let go of the alpha just yet.

“Eh, let him deal with that,” Woohyun spoke with a light tone. Dongwoo looked over to see the beta’s brightly grinning face. It made him laugh, which made Woohyun chuckle in return. “He is the alpha. His responsibility.”

“The money,” Dongwoo said, pointing at the bag.

“What about it?” Woohyun asked cautiously.

Dongwoo raised his head, revealing a mischievous grin. He wiggled his eyebrows. “How are we going to spend it?” Woohyun had been right. He’d been ‘accommodating’ for way too long. It was time that he acted out, rebelled.

And that was music to Woohyun’s ears. “Let’s go to Busan!” he suggested.

“Out of all the places, Busan?” Dongwoo questioned with a chuckle of disbelief. Woohyun nodded. “Busan?” Woohyun nodded again. Dongwoo laughed more loudly. “What, do you want to go see seagulls or something?”

“I did some research,” Woohyun began (and Dongwoo began to question how long Woohyun had been planning this escape). “And apparently the national program for oriental medicine is there. Also there’ll be more people like you! It’s so small here. Too small.” Dongwoo nodded along, agreeing with everything. “And let’s make our own pack.”

“Me and you?” Dongwoo gestured between the both of them. Woohyun nodded. “Beta and omega?”

“Yup!”

“In a big city where we don’t know anyone?”

“Not at all,” Woohyun responded as if it was something to be proud of.

“We have no place to go,” Dongwoo pointed out.

“Nope.”

“We don’t have jobs.”

“I just quit mine,” once again Woohyun said that with more pride than he should (and how long exactly had he been planning this?!).

Even though this sounded like the worst and most illogical decision, it never felt more right to Dongwoo. He hadn’t smiled this much in weeks. His face was so unaccustomed to it, it felt like it was ripping apart.

“Let’s do it!” Dongwoo exclaimed.

* * *

“Sunggyu, can we talk to you for a second?”

Sunggyu had been lying on the couch of his home with Myungsoo. They were watching some cliché drama about star-crossed lovers, an alpha and female beta. It wouldn’t work out in real life, but you don’t watch dramas for realism. And Sunggyu was watching this because the lead was attractive, and because Myungsoo (who probably believed that this couple _could_ really work out in the real world) made him.

Unfortunately, his mother called him away just as the female beta was about to get into the stereotypical hair-pulling fight with an omega, who was also vying for the alpha’s love. All a part of the twisted love triangle, or square (?), the torturous love polygon in this drama. But Sunggyu pulled himself away (and Myungsoo’s head from his lap) as he answered his mother’s call. His head was still turned towards the television when he responded, “What is it, mom?”

“Sunggyu, your father and I have been talking, and we think it’s time that you try to go find your own pack.”

Well, that got his attention. He snapped his head away from the drama and looked at his mother, dumbfounded. “But I have one now, with you,” he said sadly.

“Yes you do, and you’ll always have us,” his mother approached him and took her son’s pouting cheeks in his hands. She pushed the cheeks together until her son’s lips jutted out and his eyes were hidden behind his chubby cheeks. She smiled and chided, “But finding your own pack is a part of growing up.”

“I am grown up!” Sunggyu yelled through squished cheeks. He pulled his mother’s hands away and nodded back to the beta on the couch, who was now completely enveloped into the drama (it looked like the alpha’s mother joined in the fight). “And what about Myungsoo?”

“We’re kicking him out too,” his mother replied matter-of-factly.

“Good…I mean, what?!”

“I feel like we’re stunting the both of you,” her voice and face were plagued with worry. “Just look at Myungsoo.” The two of them looked back at Myungsoo, who now looked like he was going to take a bite out of the pillow he was holding. Sunggyu looked back up to the screen and snorted. In the drama he alpha had broken up the fight and was protecting his beloved beta, as he held her hand and they ran off together.

“When was the last time that boy has been on a date?” his mother continued. “He’s too good of a catch to be alone.” Sunggyu pulled his eyes away from Myungsoo and looked back at his mother, raising an eyebrow in a challenge. _Are you sure about that?_

“Mom! What about me?” he argued. “Aren’t I handsome too?”

“Yes,” she cooed as she fixed her son’s hair. “You’re my handsome little boy. But…” She bit her lip, not daring to finish that sentence.

“I’m asexual,” it wasn’t the right term for what he was, but they used it anyway. Sunggyu sighed and glanced back at the man on the couch. Maybe he was holding the other back.

“And there’s nothing wrong with that,” his mother insisted.

“Right.” Sunggyu hardly believed it. It was wrong. It wasn’t normal.

“Just,” his mother began, pausing to choose her words carefully. “Put yourself out there, and Myungsoo will follow too like he always does. And you’ll both find your place.”

“I guess,” Sunggyu mumbled. _I just thought it was here._

His mother then tapped him on the nose and said, “You have a month or I’m arranging a pack for you.”

“MOM!”

“Good you’re all here!” a voice boomed from the hall. Sunggyu cringed. He knew that voice all too well. He didn’t even turn around and acknowledged the aging alpha that had just burst into his home.

But Myungsoo did. He turned around on the sofa, resting his chin on the backrest. “Uncle? What are you doing here…in your pajamas?” he asked Hyungdon, who was dressed it flannel pajamas and with a pillow tucked under his arms.

The alpha wrapped his arm around Sunggyu, spinning him around to face Myungsoo. “When was the last time that we slept like a pack?” Hyungdon asked.

“Uh, I don’t know, when I was eight and it was still somewhat socially acceptable,” Sunggyu grumbled.

“Exactly,” Hyungdon responded as if it was a pity. “It’s been too long.”

Sunggyu leaned in and whispered through gritted teeth, “This is incentive for me getting my own pack isn’t it?”

“Bingo,” the alpha replied. He then let go of Sunggyu and dramatically pointed in the air. “Now everybody! To the den!” he announced and dashed out of the house.

 “Are we really sleeping as a pack?” Myungsoo asked his friend. Sunggyu nodded grudgingly. “Great! Let me go change!” the younger exclaimed, sprinting off of the couch at up the stairs into his room (Sunggyu’s sister’s old room).

Sunggyu’s mother suddenly appeared at his shoulder (and gave him a bit of a fright) “See what I mean? He’s too comfortable here,” she clicked her tongue and shook her head. “That boy needs to get out more. Find a nice girl, not Hyungdon-oppa.” She patted her son’s shoulder before she left to go change as well.

Eventually, Sunggyu changed into his pajamas as well. The four of them (when his father returned home from work) went into the alpha’s house in the center of their pack’s compound, and the remaining members of the pack gathered in the Den of the house. Hyungdon and his wife had spread out enough futons and blankets for everyone. Sunggyu and Myungsoo were the youngest people in the rooms by at least a couple of decades. And when it was time for them to all go to bed, Sunggyu was sandwiched between Myungsoo and Hyungdon, who had insisted on sleeping next to his favorite nephew. The old alpha’s arm and leg was slung over Sunggyu. Sunggyu rolled his head over to the right to see Myungsoo fast asleep, and just passed him were the sleeping faces of his parents and aunt and uncle. Each face looking older than the last. When had they all grown that way? His eyes fell back onto Myungsoo. He had gotten older too. Myungsoo wasn’t the middle school student anymore that Sunggyu had first met. He now had a prominent adam’s apple and stubble along his upper lip. It wasn’t right for a man Myungsoo’s age to be a part of such an old pack. Sunggyu sighed and rolled his head over…only to see the wrinkled and drooling face of the alpha. This _really_ wasn’t right.

They had to get out.

* * *

“Achoo!” Dongwoo sneezed loudly. He watched from the corner of his eyes as people began to back away from him. “Sorry. Sorry,” he apologized with a quick bow. He sniffed loudly and looked at his watch. Three minutes until the next train arrived. He felt his heart pick up it’s pace. A small spread across his face in spite of the growing jitters in his stomach and the snot threatening to run from his nose.

Today was his first day of school. When he and Woohyun had moved to Busan a week ago, the first thing they did was to register Dongwoo at Busan National University. It took much convincing to coerce the administer to allow Dongwoo into their new class of students, as the new year was about to start. But Woohyun had made up a sob story about how Dongwoo’s grandmother’s dying wish was for her grandson to become an oriental doctor. It had just barely worked, and Dongwoo was able to go to school again. An old face among the fresh-faced freshmen class. He would have to start from the very beginning. It was going to be a long journey.

Even longer now because he was starting with a cold and a weakened immune system. The breaking of the bond had taken a great toll on his body. He could feel the aching deep within his bones and his head felt fuzzy. The coldness enveloped him like a blanket. But he was still happy. He was still smiling. Until he found out that he used his last tissue.

“Dang it!” he cursed. He didn’t have much time to dwell on his misfortune. His train had finally arrived. He got on and squeezed himself in an open seat between the wall and a man. It was a tight squeeze, tighter than Dongwoo had anticipated, even with his slim body. Their shoulders were flushed against each other. They couldn’t move without disturbing the other. But even given all of that, it felt nice. The man next to Dongwoo felt warm. It was a slight reprieve from the chills racking through the omega’s body. Then Dongwoo sneezed again and the warm body pulled away from his side, probably from disgust.

He sighed as he looked down at the folded hands in his lap. Then something caught his eye. Dongwoo craned his head a little and saw his neighbor, fumbling through his pockets and pulled out a tissue. And right as the man was about to hand the tissue over to Dongwoo, he himself sneezed, and he reflexively covered his own mouth with the tissue. After noticing what he had just done, the man’s small eyes widened. He turned to Dongwoo. “Sorry, this was my last one,” he apologized.

“That’s okay,” Dongwoo said. For him, just the thought was enough.

A crackling announcement came over the train’s intercom. “Oh, this is my stop,” the man spoke absentmindedly. He then wiggled, gathering his bag from off the floor. He looked over at Dongwoo and gave a small smile, given the awkward situation. “Get well soon,” he wished as he stood up from his seat.

“You too…Doctor,” Dongwoo quickly added after noticing the caduceus on the man’s bag. And judging by the man’s confused expression (he had pouted and narrowed his eyes on the omega until he left the train), Dongwoo was right at guessing the man’s profession. And that made him chuckle, which later sputtered into a cough.

_Maybe Woohyun was right. This will be a good home for us._


	3. Phase II

Dongwoo ran his finger along the edge of the card. All of the information was correct, and even in spite of his cold, he was smiling brightly in his ID photo. He was proud to be a student again, finally chasing his dreams. With one last caress, he placed his student ID back into his wallet and pulled out another card. He swiped the card through the lock and entered the hotel room.

He walked into the empty room. The hotel room was always empty at this time during the day. Woohyun was gone either job hunting or prowling for a mate (anything to take his mind off of Sojin). Dongwoo sighed, threw his bag onto the floor, and threw himself onto the bed. He sighed and rubbed his hand down his face. _Maybe I should start prowling too,_ he thought while groaning. But his stomach twisted and turned at the thought. _Nope, too soon_. He still felt something for the bastard, some attachment. Dongwoo rolled over onto his side. Just when he thought that he was done with Taehwan, something like this would happen. Broken hearts and bonds don’t heal easily.

“Good. You’re back. How was your first day?”

“OH MY GOD!” Dongwoo exclaimed, falling off the bed in shock. He looked up, grabbing his racing heart, only to see Woohyun in the bathroom door. “What are you doing back so early?”

Woohyun smirked, happy that he’d just frightened the other (although accidentally). He jumped onto the bed, watching Dongwoo scramble back onto his feet. “No interviews today. _So_ how was your day?” the question was asked apprehensively.

Dongwoo studied the other as he sat on the bed across from him. “It was good,” the omega responded with equal caution. But then he grinned, reflecting back on his day. “I got my books and signed up for classes. I even met some of my classmates! They are so young! When did we get old?”

“Time flies,” Woohyun responded distractedly, his eyes darting over to a pile of papers on the nightstand.

“Oh,” Dongwoo gasped looking at them. “What are those?”

The beta sighed and reached for the papers. He shuffled them in his hands, straightening them before handing them over to his friend. “Don’t get upset, but I started it,” he explained. “The dissolution process.”

Dongwoo gulped harshly, his eyes slowly leaving Woohyun’s gaze and falling onto the papers in his hands. This was why Woohyun was home so early. He tried to catch the omega at a good time. But was there ever a good time for this? _No_. “I’m not upset,” Dongwoo retorted, but the slight tremor in his hands gave him away. His stomach was turning again.

The spot next to him sunk down, as Woohyun sat next to him. “Then don’t get like that,” he fought back, taking the papers away from Dongwoo’s slack grip. “We need to start the process so,” he paused for a second. “For Sojinnie,” he finished, his voice slightly strained. “The baby.”

The omega screwed his eyes shut and buried his face in his hands. That’s right. They needed to dissolve their old pack before the baby arrived so that the others could register a new one, so that the baby could be legitimate. And it was a long and arduous process. They needed to file their case soon.

Dongwoo removed his head from his hands after a heavy sigh. He extended his palm towards Woohyun. “Pen,” he demanded. Woohyun reached into his pocket and gave the pen to his friend, studying his every move carefully, until Dongwoo forced him to turn around so that he could sign the papers on the beta’s back (and maybe so that Woohyun couldn’t see the storm of emotions swirling on his face).

“I marked where you needed to sign with tabs,” Woohyun said, flattening his back for the other.

“Eung,” the omega grunted, furiously signing and intial-ing in all of the appropriate places. Just like ripping off a band-aid. He didn’t even bother to read the content, what exactly he was agreeing to. He could be signing his soul to the Pororo and he would’ve had no idea. Within a few minutes he was done. He tapped Woohyun on the back and dropped the papers in his lap. “Wedding present,” he announced before grabbing his bag and heading for the door. “I’m going to study at the café downstairs. Wouldn’t want to get behind,” he said as he left, not even glancing back.

Woohyun heaved a heavy sigh and looked down at his lap. “That kid,” he muttered as he flipped through the pages making sure everything was signed. Dongwoo’s signature had gotten progressively sloppier and more illegible as he went on. But everything was in order. He threw the papers into his briefcase. He’ll file them tomorrow in between interviews. But before he closed the briefcase, he pulled out his laptop. There were two reasons why he had come home early. He had hoped that Dongwoo would’ve stayed long enough so that Woohyun could tell him, but seeing as his best friend wasn’t in the best of moods, he’ll tell him in a couple of days (if his math was right). However, for now, he had something to do.

He searched for the number online. There was also one other reason why Woohyun had chosen Busan. For something that seemed like they’d randomly run away to the big city, Woohyun had been planning it meticulously for weeks. But no one would ever be the wiser, surely not Dongwoo in this state.

He finally found the number and inputted it into his phone. “Hello? Yes, I would like to make an appointment.”

* * *

“This is perfect, hyung!” Myungsoo exclaimed as the entered the foyer.

Sunggyu rolled his eyes. “We barely even stepped into the place,” he mumbled. However, Myungsoo paid him no heed and began exploring the home with an excited spring in his step. The younger disappeared around the corner. The empty spot by his side was soon filled by a small woman dressed in a business suit.

“He’s right, though,” the woman spoke with a smile permanently fixed to her face. “This is perfect for your needs. It’s exactly what you asked for. And more.” Sunggyu turned to look at her, skeptically. She was required to say things like that, veiled and positive. She was their real estate agent. Sunggyu and Myungsoo were in the midst of buying a complex for their new pack. Whether they make it for themselves or his parents arranged them, the pack would still need somewhere to sleep. And as Hyungdon announced that they would all be sleeping as a pack in the Den until the boys moved out, Sunggyu decided that they needed to buy a home and fast. He couldn’t take the old man’s snoring any longer.

“Hyung!” Myungsoo peeked his head from around the corner. “You need to look at the kitchen! Come on!” His head then disappeared again.

“That would be the ‘and more’ part: a kitchen fully furnished with the latest appliances and granite countertops,” she explained. She then began to make her way towards the kitchen. “Follow me, Sunggyu-ssi,” she beckoned.

Sunggyu closed his eyes. He was quickly calculating the prices in his head. ‘And more’ would also include a pricetag over the boys’ budget (not like they didn’t have the means to go over. He just felt like they were being taken advantage of by the savvy agent). “But none of us even cook,” he grumbled as he dragged his feet into the kitchen.

“But what if one of your future pack members do?” the agent challenged, still with that calm smile on her face. “It’s better to be prepared for everything.”

“She’s right,” Myungsoo quickly agreed, pulling his head out of the oven that he had been inspecting. “Besides, I can cook.”

Sunggyu quickly shook his head. “No, you like to think you can cook,” he denied. Myungsoo frowned, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He quickly turned to the agent and explained, “He made me fried rice once and now he thinks he’s a master chef.”

“But it was delicious, right?” Myungsoo challenged.

Sunggyu cleared his throat and kept his attention on the agent.  “What else is part of this ‘and more’?” he asked.

“The other villas in this complex aren’t as well outfitted as the main home, but given what Myungsoo-ssi,” she looked over at the younger and her smile widened before continuing, “had told me, you plan on eating together as a pack as often as you can. There’s also a large and warm Den for when your pack expands. This place was built for quality pack-time. But what I think will be the most appealing to you, Sunggyu-ssi.” The agent leaned in and whispered. “This is move-in ready. Once you sign the forms, you can move in within a few days.”

“Really?” Sunggyu asked, raising his eyebrows. The agent nodded. Suddenly, the large pricetag didn’t matter to him anymore. “What else does this place have?” he asked as he left the kitchen to explore the rest of the complex.

It had everything, everything that Sunggyu had asked for and even the things he didn’t. There was a small bathhouse in the back, which he had only seen in old houses that the ancient elites lived in. People nowadays would go to public ones or to saunas to bathe together, but they could do it in the comfort of their own home. There was also a lot of land if they needed to expand or just to play around in when they had kids. _Kids_ , Sunggyu laughed at that thought. Last week, his biggest worry was getting an order of latex-free gloves because Minyoung constantly forgot that he was allergic to latex. But now, he was thinking about how big of a table they could fit into the dining room, how many bedrooms would they need, and _kids_. It was mostly Myungsoo talking about them, but then Sunggyu caught himself thinking that one room would make a good nursery. It scared him. Mostly because he was thinking of things that he didn’t know he could have. _No, for Myungsoo. I was thinking of it for Myungsoo_ , he tried to convince himself.

“Well, what do you think?” the realtor asked, shifting anxiously in front of them. The tour had ended. Myungsoo was obviously enamored with the place and already said several times that they didn’t need to look elsewhere. But Sunggyu remained stoic.

“It’s expensive,” Sunggyu stated, looking around the foyer of the main house.

“Hyung,” Myungsoo whispered. “The two of us can afford this place on our own. It’ll only get cheaper the more people we add.”

Sunggyu narrowed his gaze on the other. “Exactly how many people are you planning on being in our pack?”

“A lot,” Myungsoo answered curtly, and then he broke out into a slight laugh, leaving Sunggyu to wonder whether he was serious or not.

“Is that a ‘no,’ then?” the agent broke into the two’s side conversation.

Sunggyu sighed and hung his head. “If we don’t get this place, I’ll never hear the end of this from this kid,” he said.

“Nope,” Myungsoo agreed and turned towards the agent. “When can we sign?”

“Fantastic!” the realtor clapped her hands together. “We can sign as soon as you apply for the mortgage loan. So which one of you is the alpha? You I presume?” she asked turning towards Sunggyu.

“Neither,” Sunggyu quickly denied.

“Oh.” The permanent smile on her face faltered. “Will he be coming later then?” she asked.

“No,” Sunggyu shook his head. “We don’t have one. So far, the pack is just me and him,” he gestured between himself and Myungsoo, who smiled at the mention of him. “But we’re good on our word. I own a fertility clinic, and he does the accounting for it and for a couple of others.” Myungsoo nodded along in agreement.

“You have no alpha?” the realtor repeated slowly. She then heaved a great sigh, probably envisioning her commission disappearing before her eyes. “Well, it’s going to be hard for you to apply for a loan. Things would be different if you had an alpha or mates. But just two betas buying a complex.” She cocked her head as she paused to think things over. Her smile now was completely gone, and her finger tapped against her pouting lips. “You’re going to need a guarantor for the mortgage loan. Preferably an alpha?” she suggested. Sunggyu must have looked disgruntled because she then quickly added with her hands up in the air, “I don’t make the rules, but it’s hard to get a loan without one.”

“Fine,” Sunggyu relented. He then spoke lowly to Myungsoo “Hyungdon will sign for us.”

“Good,” the smile had returned to the agent’s face and so did her cheerfulness. “The world is changing, and so are the packs. I’m sure that banks will change their policies soon too,” she said with a wink.

Sunggyu sighed as he looked around the foyer one last time. Now that there was a possibility that he might not get it, he suddenly wanted it all the more. It really was perfect, just as Myungsoo had said. His eyes landed back on the agent.

“I hope they do.”

* * *

 

Now was the time.  Woohyun could see the signs of it coming. He’d learned over the years how to watch out for them for his own sake. And now he was positive, especially since Dongwoo suddenly asked him to pick up some disgusting herbal tea on his way home. Dongwoo was in heat.

It wasn’t dangerous for Woohyun to be around his friend anymore during this time. Dongwoo learned how to manage it very well and always had suppressants on his person. So all that was left was the cramps…and the slight horniness. But Dongwoo groped his butt on an almost daily basis, so Woohyun judged that it was something he could deal with.

But what he opened the door to wasn’t what he expected. “Ugh! Oh god! What is that smell?” Woohyun retched. He nearly dropped the tea in a desperate attempt to cover his nose. “It smelled like you marked the whole room!” He then narrowed his eyes on the lump on the bed. “You didn’t, did you?”

The lump slowly turned over. Dongwoo was cocooned in blankets. He smiled tiredly at his friend. “Nam-goon!” he called out to the other in a weak voice. “You came.”

“Hey, buddy,” Woohyun spoke in a low voice, walking over to his friend and handing him the tea. He then quickly backed away from the other. “What’s with the smell?”

Dongwoo sat up in his bed and drank from the cup. When he set it down, he looked as if he’d just taken a shot of soju instead of drinking tea. “I looked it up,” he explained. “It’s a defense mechanism for when omegas don’t feel safe when they go into heat. It’s supposed to repel instead of, you know, attracting.”

“Well it’s working,” Woohyun teased.

“That bad?” Dongwoo asked while flopping back down on his back. He laughed listlessly to himself. “I’m a mess,” he screeched, rolling around on the bed. “And I’m going to spread my mess everywhere!” Soon he felt a hand come down onto his shoulder to still him. He looked up to see Woohyun with a cloth tied around his face to block out the stench. “Ah! A robber!” he joked. “I swear we don’t have a duffle bag full of money stashed under the bed!”

“Dongwoo-yah,” Woohyun was not in the mood for joking. “You don’t feel safe? We can go if…”

“Nam-goon,” the omega cut him off. “It’s okay. It’s probably because of the…”

“Don’t say it,” Woohyun growled. Dongwoo swallowed his words as guilt washed through him. Woohyun was irritated, whether at Taehwan, him, or just the whole situation. The two of them had their problems, and they were coping with them in different ways. But they were failing. The problems were still there. Even though they were miles away in Busan, the problems, their sadness, still plagued them.

“I’m sorry,” Dongwoo apologized. “It’s because I’m a mess.” Woohyun then glared at him, words forming under his makeshift mask. But Dongwoo beat him to it, “And you’re a mess too.” Woohyun cocked his head. Dongwoo chuckled. “Especially after I do this!” Dongwoo with a screech, lunged at Woohyun, abandoning his blanket, enveloping the other in his horrible smell. Dongwoo clung onto Woohyun tighter. “Now you’re smelly too!”

“Ugh! Get off!” Woohyun fought back, flailing. “This is gross.” He somehow managed to wiggle out of Dongwoo’s grasp (maybe he couldn’t handle the other in heat). The beta glued himself to the wall on the other side of the room. “You stinky, horny omega. Ugh! I’ll need 10 showers to feel clean again,” Woohyun whined.

Dongwoo crawled back into bed, still laughing. But the laughter eventually slowed down, and he curled up back in this blankets, cradling the tea in his hands. Truth be told, he felt miserable. His heat had never been like this. He wanted nothing more than to be alone and repel the whole world, save for Woohyun. He never wanted to feel like this again. So low.

“Dongwoo,” Woohyun called out to him. The omega slowly raised his head. The beta pulled down his mask to his chin. “How would you like to never feel like this again?”

* * *

There was a procedure, one that removed the glands and organs that created an omega’s heat. It was normally done on omegas with cancer in that region or some other life-threatening defect. Rarely it was done for omegas who had their bonds broken. And once, just one time (in recorded history) it was done on a male omega. That surgery was done by none other than a fertility specialist in Busan, Kim Sunggyu.

“A guy?” Dongwoo asked. He was now sitting up again (and showered thoroughly, that was one of the requisites that Woohyun had before they could continue the conversation).

“Eung,” Woohyun grunted. He was freshly showered too. “The article said that he had some birth defect that messed with his sense of smell.”

“He can’t smell?! Like at all?”

“Basically,” Woohyun responded from what he could understand from the article, which wasn’t much. Science was never his forte. “I would’ve given anything to be him a couple minutes ago.”

“Me too,” Dongwoo agreed. He thought for a second, pondering over everything that Woohyun had just told him. “So if I get this, I’ll never go into heat again.”

“No, never again.”

Dongwoo looked over at the bedside table, littered with empty cups of tea (he’d gotten some more) and packages of suppressants. He then rubbed his constantly churning stomach. He’d never have to go through this again. He could just live his life like a beta that he always pretended to be. And now he could see why Woohyun chose Busan. Here, they’d have a new home, new careers, and for Dongwoo, a new body to go along with it. It would be a fresh start.

And maybe, just maybe, with all of the gross organs that the doctor was going to remove from his body, maybe he’d take away the heartache too.

“When’s the appointment?”

* * *

 

Dongwoo’s knees were jumping as he sat in his seat. His fingers caressing the ID card in his pocket, his real one. He was anxious to get this meeting over with. He was anxious to get those cursed things out of his body. He was anxious because the secretary had been eyeing the two of them suspiciously ever since they had sat down. Dongwoo’s eyes flickered over to Woohyun, who flashed him a small smile and squeezed Dongwoo’s hand (the omega didn’t even know when he had grabbed it).

Then the secretary cleared her throat. “The doctor will see you now,” she announced.

The omega sprung up to his feet and made his way to the door, pausing to say thank you to the secretary. When he cautiously opened up the office door, he felt a push from behind him. Woohyun had his hands on both of the omega’s shoulder and gently pushed him into the room.

“Uh, hello.” Dongwoo finally noticed the doctor in the room. Kim Sunggyu seemed, frankly, less impressive than what he had accomplished. Dongwoo was kind of hoping that the doctor would be older, like a fatherly figure that would help to guide him through the process. But he didn’t expect the doctor to be close to his age. It put Dongwoo on edge. Sunggyu walked up to the two, ushering them into the office. “You must be here about the heat removal surgery, but, uh, where is she?”

“W-who?” Dongwoo stuttered. His fingers finally left the card in his pocket.

Sunggyu raised an eyebrow at them, confused. “Your omega,” he clarified.

 _This_ was what Dongwoo was worried about. He had been so used to hiding it for the past few years, that his first instinct was to lie. “Uh, well…she’s…” he tripped over his tongue, trying to fight against his impulses.

Woohyun took Dongwoo’s stuttering for apprehension. “She’s sick,” he lied.

“Oh,” Sunggyu exclaimed blinking a couple of times. He laughed a little. “Of course, she _is_ getting the surgery after all.” He sat at his desk and gestured for the other two to sit down. He scooted in while they seated themselves. He leaned onto his desk, resting his forearms on it. “Well, since this is just a consultation, I guess we can proceed. And I’ll look over her charts and tell you about the process. Now, which one of you is her mate?” he asked, looking back and forth between them.

“There is no mate,” Dongwoo admitted.

Sunggyu nodded as if he understood. “Is one of you her legal guardian? Alpha?”

Dongwoo shook his head, “No.”

“Are you even related to her?” Sunggyu asked through gritted teeth.

“N-no,” Dongwoo stammered with an apologetic smile.

Sunggyu groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. “There are no charts either, are there?” he asked curtly.

Dongwoo chuckled a little, trying to ease the situation. “How did you know?” But Dongwoo’s joke didn’t ease a thing. It just tightened the tension. The doctor narrowed his eyes on the omega as his chested rose and fell, building up steam.

“Look, we’re just here for a consultation,” Woohyun spoke for the first time since they stepped inside. He held onto Dongwoo’s hand that was clasping his knee (once again, Dongwoo had no idea when he had put it there either). “So consult us. Tell us about it,” he challenged.

The doctor shifted his attention on the beta. He tore a pamphlet from off of a shelf and threw it at Woohyun. “Everything you need to know is in here,” Sunggyu declared, pointing at the pamphlet. “But I don’t feel comfortable discussing the matter because you obviously came here without her consent or the consent of your alpha.”

The hold on Dongwoo’s hand tightened. He looked over to see Woohyun fighting to keep his calm. “Do we really need it?” the beta asked.

Sunggyu leaned back in his chair. “Her consent? It’s her body, so yes,” he quickly responded.

“No,” Woohyun practically growled. Dongwoo was beginning to lose feeling in the tips of his fingers (but that was better than having Woohyun lunge over the desk at the doctor). “The alpha’s. Do we really need the alpha’s consent? Do we really need an alpha?”

The doctor could sense the other challenging his authority and expertise. He pulled himself up straight in this seat and folded his hands over. “If she is incapacitated and unable to speak for herself, then I need permission from her legal guardian to be able to proceed,” he spoke clearly, drilling his point. “Since you said she had no mate, then the alpha…”

“What if the alpha is a total d*****bag and doesn’t know what’s good for her?” Woohyun cut him off. He had finally let go of the omega’s hand and jumped up out of his seat. “What if he doesn’t care like I do? What then?”

Dongwoo got up too, putting his hand on the other’s shoulder, holding him back. “Nam-goon,” he warned.

“Then get me her charts.” Dongwoo looked over to see that Sunggyu was now standing too, issuing that command. “I can’t do anything, if I don’t know what I’m up against.”

Dongwoo could feel Woohyun flinch, readying himself to lunge. Dongwoo tightened his grip on his friend’s shoulder. It was time that he put an end to this. They couldn’t do anything, not today. “Okay, doctor,” Dongwoo said, smiling warmly at Sunggyu. The doctor looked backed at him, more confused than ever. “We’ll come back next time with the charts. Sorry to bother you,” he apologized with a slight bow. He pulled Woohyun out of the office with him, but the moment they stepped out of the office Dongwoo reprimanded him, “Woah woah woah! What happened there?”

“Do you think we really need an alpha?” Woohyun argued in a harsh whisper. “Are we completely helpless without one?”

Dongwoo immediately shook his head. They have come too far to think like that. “No we’re not. And we don’t need one. We’re doing fine,” he fought back.

“No we’re not,” Woohyun snapped back. He groaned and ran a hand down his face. “I’ve been rejected. From everywhere,” he admitted. “Just because I left. They don’t think I have loyalty.” Dongwoo noticed that Woohyun’s eyes flickered away. The omega turned to see where he was looking, only to see the secretary pretending like she wasn’t just eavesdropping. Woohyun leaned in and whispered. “They say that I need a letter from _him_ , explaining _everything_.”

“F**k, you serious?” Dongwoo cursed. Woohyun nodded. “But he…we….how are we going to get that?”

“I don’t know,” Woohyun groaned. “But let’s get out of here. This place makes me angry.”

Dongwoo sighed listlessly as he watched his best friends stomp away from the waiting room. And he was just as frustrated too. Even though there was a smile on his face, his heart was agitated. _One step forward, five steps back_. Dongwoo knew exactly what he needed to do. He had to talk to Taehwan.

* * *

“Woah!” Myungsoo exclaimed, quickly stepping to the side and narrowly missing a man stomping through the halls. He craned his neck to watch the man get onto the elevator and jamming the down button. Steam was practically coming out of his ears. Myungsoo cocked his head. He wasn’t used to seeing men come out of his hyung’s office, especially none so angry. He smirked. If this man was like this, he could only imagine the state that Sunggyu was in. But as he was imagining Sunggyu blowing off stream like a train, another man brushed past him, apologizing under his breath. Myungsoo did a double take. One man was odd enough. Two men meant that Myungsoo had just missed something very very interesting.

Myungsoo walked over to Minyoung with his eyes fixed on the closed elevator doors. “Who are those guys?”

 “I don’t know, but there’s something weird about those two,” the secretary whispered, rolling her chair closer to the other. She lowered her voice even more, “I think they might be rogue.”

Myungsoo snapped his head around to look at her. “You mean, they don’t have a pack?” his voice rising in excitement.

“Something like that,” Minyoung replied distractedly as she rolled over to her desk and grabbed a clipboard. “I just looked over their forms again, and look,” she said handing over the clipboard to the other. “Do Minjoon and Cheon Songyi,” she read and pointed to the names on the list. Myungsoo laughed and she did as well. “It’s weird, isn’t it? Why come in and waste everybody’s time? They didn’t even have the omega with them.”

“Maybe she was too ashamed to come herself,” Myungsoo hypothesized, handing back the clipboard. “Maybe she didn’t want to be Yoo Semi,” he joked.

“Maybe,” Minyoung said with a laugh. But then she looked back at the clipboard and clicked her tongue. “I don’t like it,” she muttered under her breath and set the clipboard down. Suddenly the phone rang on her desk. She put a finger up, begging for Myungsoo’s patience. Minyoung cleared her throat and answered it sweetly, “Yes?”

“Yah! Minyoung-ah!” Myungsoo could hear his hyung yell on the other end of the line (and could hear him through the office door. “Why did you even schedule that appointment?”

 “Sorry if I want this practice to make money! I need to eat!” she snapped back and slammed the phone into the holder. “Aish,” she cursed, ruffling her hair. Then she froze, realizing that Myungsoo was still there, right in front of her. She quickly straightened back up and tucked her hair back behind her ears. She picked up the phone and put on her saccharine voice again, “Oppa, I’m hanging up now.” She then carefully put the phone back down and raised her eyes to meet the beta’s. He was barely holding back his laughter.

“You’re weird,” he stated through his wide smile.

Minyoung groaned, “I am, aren’t I?”

* * *

It had been a few days since the incident at the doctor’s office. Dongwoo and Woohyun had a mutual agreement not to talk about what happened. At least not yet when the event was still fresh in their minds. Woohyun still went to job interviews, and Dongwoo was going to classes, trying his best to get used to being in school again. He also had his first test coming up. He was in the hotel room, intently reading his text with a pen in his mouth. Then the phone on the bedside table rang. He assumed that it was the delivery, asking for his room number again.

“Hello?” he asked, voice muffled by the pen.

“Dongwoo? Is that you?”

“H-Hyung?” Dongwoo choked and the pen fell out of his mouth, hanging wide open. His heart stilled in his chest. He stiffened to the point that he felt fragile, like glass.

“I saw this number on one of the dissolution forms,” Taehwan explained. “I hope you don’t mind me calling. I just wanted to know how you were doing. So you’re in Busan now?”

“Yea, I got into the program for oriental medicine,” Dongwoo was grateful that his voice was still working (and part of him felt grateful that Taehwan sounded well).

“That’s great!” the elder praised. “You’ve always wanted to do that.”

Dongwoo felt pride rising up in him, until he remembered that Taehwan was the one that hindered that dream in the first place. He sighed and gnashed his teeth. “Yes, I did. How’s Sojinnie?” he hoped that the annoyance in his voice was evident (but it only sounded like he was distracted instead).

“She’s fine. Getting bigger, but don’t tell her that I said that,” Taehwan joked.

“I won’t,” the omega mumbled back. _I doubt I’ll ever see her again_ , he thought.

Taehwan hoped otherwise. “She misses you guys, you know. The three of you were so close for so long.”

 _We can’t go back_. Dongwoo ground his teeth. “Hyung, why are you calling?” he almost growled. He couldn’t take anymore of this walk down memory lane.

“I signed the forms,” Taehwan finally revealed his purpose. Dongwoo held his breath. He stiffened again in anticipation. “And I got them approved. We’re officially no longer a pack or mates…and while we were there, Sojinnie and I registered.”

“Congratulations,” the words slipped out through slack lips. Dongwoo knew it was going to happen, but he didn’t expect it to be so soon, or so casual.

“Thank you,” Taehwan said with a sigh of relief. Apparently the elder thought that this conversation was going wonderfully. “I just…I just want us to still be friends. Or at least amicable? Especially because of Boohyun. Please tell Woohyun to call his brother every once in awhile. I told him just to call his brother, but you know how he is. He wants to be cool,” he ended with a slight laugh.

“I’ll tell him,” Dongwoo responded, but then at the mention of his best friend, he snapped back into reality. He remembered what they still needed from the alpha. “Woohyun also needs a recommendation letter from you, explaining everything. And mention that he’s loyal. Mention it like a 100 times. Say he’s more loyal than Lee Soo Shin.”

The elder chuckled heartily. “Okay, I’ll do that. And Dongwoo?”

“Hm?”

“I don’t care about the money. Keep it,” Taehwan offered. “And don’t be shy either. You can call or visit anytime you want. You know, you’ve always been like a little brother to me.”

“But I wasn’t,” Dongwoo snapped.

“Huh?”

The glass was fracturing, splintering. The hot anger in Dongwoo’s gut was rising. “I was never your brother. I was your f***ing mate, for crying out loud,” he yelled. “But you never saw me like that, did you?”

Taehwan was caught off guard. “It was a mistake.”

He shattered, breaking into laughter. A dark and bone-chilling laugh. “Us?” he challenged. Tears began welling up in his eyes. “Yea, I guess so,” he yielded that much. He couldn’t stop laugh, but his mind was blank. He didn’t know what else to do or say. The words were on his tongue. “Even animals know when they’re loved, but I…I’m done. I’m done.” And with that, he hung up the phone, not willing to listen to Taehwan’s false objections. He wiped the tears from his face as he waited for his breathing to become regular once again, for the laughter and anger to go away. But only one of them did. “Whew! I need a drink.”

He reached down underneath the bed, pulling out the duffle bad. He unzipped it and grabbed a stack of cash, before stuffing it back underneath the bed. He was going to spend a nice long night at the bar. And he left his text books on the bed, forgotten.

* * *

“Cheers!”

Myungsoo and Sunggyu were out celebrating. It had been a hectic week. But after much begging and pleading (on Hyungdon’s part because he hated seeing the boys go), the alpha finally went with them to the bank and signed the loan. They were approved, and the complex was theirs. Finally. They both took off from work to move-in. And after a long day of heavy lifting and organizing and bickering, the boys were exhausted, hungry, and were in much need of a drink. Which lead them to Jungyeop’s restaurant, as it usually did (they got great service there). And for some inexplicable reason (or maybe way too obvious reason given her crush), Minyoung joined them too.

“Where were you when we were moving?” Sunggyu asked the omega after guzzling down his beer. “We could’ve used your meaty arms.”

“Yah!” Minyoung shouted, rubbing her arms up and down. “My arms are just fine. Besides, you got the day off, not me. I still had stuff to do in the office.”

Sunggyu shook his head. “Watching dramas doesn’t count,” he teased.

“I am a professional,” Minyoung claimed, placing a hand over her heart. “I don’t do stuff like that,” she spoke through gritted teeth, narrowing her eyes on her boss.

Myungsoo frowned. “I was kind of counting on you to tell me what happened today on the show,” he said in disappointment.

Minyoung leaned in closer to him and whispered, “I’ll tell you later, okay?” She then pulled away and turned back towards her boss. Her demeanor grew more excited. “Now all that’s left is for you to make a pack. Soooo…have you thought about asking anyone?” she asked in feigned innocence, batting her eyelashes.

“Nope,” Sunggyu retorted, fighting back a smile especially when the omega began pouting. He knew what she was getting at, but adding her to the pack wasn’t his decision alone. His eyes flickered over to Myungsoo, whose eyes were glued onto the tv. If Myungsoo didn’t seem so disinterested, Minyoung would’ve been the first person that he’d ask, but seeing as their love-lines didn’t match up (Minyoung liked Myungsoo and Myungsoo liked his dramas), Sunggyu was going to wait a little longer to see how this would play out.

“You’re running out of time,” Minyoung reminded them. “If I were you, I’d look for an alpha first. That’s the most important part.”

“No,” Myungsoo objected. The other two looked over at Myungsoo in a bit of a shock. Neither thought that he was paying much attention to their conversation. “We don’t need an alpha. Hyung’s the leader of the pack,” he stated, pointing at Sunggyu with his drink. He then took a long sip.

“Since when?” Sunggyu retorted with a laugh of disbelief.

“Are you not?” Myungsoo fought back.

Sunggyu thought for a second and then nodded. “Of course I am,” he stated. “For now.”

“Why not always?” Myungsoo immediately argued. He put down his drink roughly. “Look at us, hyung. We’re more than capable enough. We make a lot of money. We’re handsome.” Sunggyu scoffed, not knowing what that had to do with anything. “But the bank wouldn’t give us the loan without an alpha. Isn’t that messed up?”

“So you want me to become a leader to prove a point? That we don’t need an alpha?” Sunggyu asked as if the notion was ridiculous.

“Yes,” Myungsoo answered in all seriousness. “Don’t you too? Weren’t you upset?”

“Of course I was, but…” the eldest admitted and then paused. He had put a lot of thought into this. Ever since the loan fiasco. No, he had even thought about this right as his mother told him to leave home. Sunggyu wanted a pack, but he didn’t think that he could live satisfactorily under any other alpha. He had been practically independent for way too long. He was used to doing things on his own. And he was embarrassed just asking Hyungdon for his signature. Sunggyu couldn’t imagine subordinating himself to someone else, not anymore. But, there was a slight hiccup. “Myungsoo, who are we going to find that will willingly follow a beta?” _Especially one as defective as myself_ , Sunggyu wanted to add, but he bit the inside of his cheek, holding it back. But then again without a mate, he could devote all his attention to the pack. That would be the only positive Sunggyu could offer.

“Aish! Is he drunk already? What are you doing? Take him home!” Jungyeop was heard shouting at some customers that had just walked in.  The trio turned towards the bar to see a man dragging in his stumbling friend into the room. The man didn’t pay any heed to Jungyeop’s threat and sat his friend down on a stool at the bar.

“You’re kidding me,” Sunggyu mumbled under his breath. It was the two men who invaded his office and demanded advice on a case that probably didn’t even exist. He had assumed that it was just two prowling perverts looking for an omega with her guard down. He had sadly dealt with that before.

“Please ahjussi, my friend needs something to eat and we have no food at home,” the man begged, finally paying attention to the man behind the bar. “We’ll just get some food. Sober him up a bit. And be on our way.”

“Okay, but if he disrupts any of my customers, you’re out,” Jungyeop warned.

“Thanks, ahjussi! And don’t worry! He’s a very nice drunk!” the man said proudly as if were something to brag about. Sunggyu scoffed. Those two seemed to cause trouble wherever they went.

 “Hey aren’t they to two weirdoes from the other day?” Minyoung spoke lowly, pointing at the duo. The drunk was now leaning up against his friend for support.

“Yup,” Sunggyu answered before taking a large sip from his drink.

Myungsoo tapped on the elder’s upper arm. “Hyung! Let’s go talk to them,” he suggested.

“Why?” Sunggyu asked, looking at the younger as if he were crazy. And he had to be if he wanted to interact with those two perverts. “The short one has a temper, and the shorter one is drunk already.”

“Hyung,” Myungsoo whined, now shaking Sunggyu’s shoulder _. Dear god, he’s begging now._

Sunggyu shook his head. “You just want to see me get into a fight.”

Myungsoo laughed, having been caught. “It sounded like it was fun,” he admitted. But then he leaned in and whispered like it was a secret. “Besides, aren’t you curious?”

 _Damn_. After all of their years together, the younger really learned how to play with Sunggyu, prodding at his weaknesses. Sunggyu was a curious creature, which isn’t too odd, most scientists are. But the fact was that he _was_ curious about those two. He could guess and he could speculate about why they did what they did. But he still didn’t _know_. And Myungsoo knew that. He had been listening to his hyung rant about them for days. However, Sunggyu refused to give in. “Not curious enough,” he retorted, finishing off his beer. He got up from the table. “I’m going to get another. Do you want one?” he asked. The other two nodded and he made his way to the bar.

Now if Sunggyu happened to go up to the bar and those two just happened to start talking to him, he wouldn’t be exactly be giving into his curiosity. He was just getting beer, and all of his questions would just _happened_ to have been answered. It would be mere chance, and not intentional (or at least that’s how Sunggyu justified it to himself).

Sunggyu slid his empty glass over to the old man behind the bar. “Jungyeop-ssi, how are you doing?” he asked.

“Better now,” the old man replied with a smile. “You want another?”

“Eung,” Sunggyu nodded and put up three fingers, silently ordering for the others as well. Jungyeop nodded and went to fill the order.

“Well, well, well, look at who it is,” Sunggyu heard a voice to his right. He smiled to himself. _Look who took the bait._ He turned to see the man from the other day sliding over next to him. “Are you here to tell me that I need permission to sit at the bar?”

“Yea, mine. Leave,” Sunggyu answered curtly.

The man chuckled darkly and shook his head, waving his finger in the air. _Is this kid drunk too?_ “You can’t do that,” he responded. Then panic appeared on his face as he looked up at Jungyeop, still behind the bar. ”Can he?” he asked the old man. Jungyeop chuckled and shook his head. The man then pouted and turned back towards Sunggyu. “Why are you being such a jerk?”

“Why are you trying to pick a fight?” Sunggyu immediately barked back. But the reaction that he elicited from the other wasn’t what he had been expecting.

The man averted his gaze, looking down at his drink. “I’m not,” he denied. Something about this scene reminded the doctor of a dog who had been scolded. The man took a sip from his drink and faced Sunggyu again. “I’m not!” he denied more fervently.

Sunggyu sighed, looking at the pitiful man in front of him. And then his eyes widened when he noticed his more pitiful friend behind him. “Yah! Pay attention to your friend. He’s falling off his stool!” Sunggyu scolded.

“Hm? Ah! Dongwoo!” the man exclaimed, just barely catching his friend before he fell onto the floor. The doctor shook his head and clicked his tongue at the scene. These two were looking increasingly more problematic.

“Hyung, introduce me,” Myungsoo came up at Sunggyu from behind, nearly giving the elder a fright.

“Fine,” Sunggyu relented. “Do Minjoon, Cheon Songyi, meet Lee Hwikyung,” he introduced, gesturing to the man behind him. He then patted Myungsoo’s shoulder. “Let’s go back,” he urged. He didn’t want to stay around those two any longer.

But Myungsoo didn’t follow him. “Which one is Songyi?” he asked.

After propping his friend back up, the man pointed to him. “He is. I’m Minjoon. I can read minds,” he stated with a slight chuckle.

“Really?” Myungsoo challenged. He then brushed past Sunggyu and sat next to the man. He narrowed his eyes onto the other. “What am I thinking of?”

Sunggyu noticed the man’s eyes flickering over to the television set for a brief second. “Uh, baseball,” the man guessed.

Myungsoo’s jaw went slack as he turned to face Sunggyu, who was still standing. “Hyung, he got it right,” he said in disbelief. Sunggyu ran his hand through his hair in frustration and was about to yell at his dongsaeng, but then Myungsoo cut him off, “Why is he Songyi?”

The man shrugged, craning his neck backwards to look at his friend. His friend finally got some food and was slurping it noisily. “Because he’s…pretty?” the man threw it out there.

“Hyung, he is,” Myungsoo muttered as he leaned forward to catch a better glimpse of the man with soup dribbling down his face. Then Myungsoo turned back to look at his hyung with eyes sparkling with excitement. The doctor’s stomach sank. The last time his dongsaeng looked at him like that, they ended up buying the complex. The first and only one that they stepped into. Sunggyu could see the gears meshing inside Myungsoo’s brain. He could tell what the other was thinking.

“Myungsoo, no,” he warned sternly, hoping that Myungsoo would abandon the idea.

But the sparkle didn’t leave his eyes. Instead a cheeky smile was added along with it. Myungsoo turned towards the man and asked, “Do you guys really not have a pack?”

The man looked at the other curiously. “Not at the moment,” he responded carefully.

“Neither do we! But we’re forming one,” Myungsoo said; excitement was building in his voice. He leaned forward. “Do you want to—”

Sunggyu grabbed onto the other’s collar and jerked him backwards before he could finish that question. “Just one moment please,” he begged of the man as he pulled his dongsaeng up and out of the chair so that he could speak to him in private.  Once they were a couple steps away, Sunggyu shoved the other. “Are you out of your mind?”

“Hyung, they’re perfect,” Myungsoo argued with a pout and gave Sunggyu a weak push back, purely out of retaliation.

Sunggyu shouted back, “Have you looked at them?!”

“Eung,” Myungsoo nodded emphatically. “They smell like us. And weren’t you saying that we needed someone who’d follow a beta?”

“Yes,” Sunggyu answered slowly.

“And didn’t you say that these guys seemed to hate alphas?”

 _Shit_. Sunggyu knew where this was going. “Yes.”

“Hyung, this is them!” Myungsoo exclaimed excitedly.

“Myungsoo-yah!” All Sunggyu could do was to whine and stomp his foot, hoping that the other would realize his frustration, which only grew at the next second.

“If you don’t mind me intruding,” the man came up from behind and did intrude. “That actually doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” he agreed with a grin.

Myungsoo immediately went up to the man’s side. “Right!” he exclaimed.

The man nodded and continued, “We could really use some more friends right now, and…I don’t know, this feels right.”

“Like it’s fated?” Myungsoo suggested.

“Exactly!” the man chimed in. “We’re looking for a pack to join, you’re making one. I’m a beta. You’re a beta.” He gestured over to Sunggyu. “He’s a beta. She’s pretty,” he said while waving over at Minyoung who had snuck over to join them (probably getting lonely at the table all by herself). “This can work out, right?” the man asked, nudging Myungsoo. Myungsoo nodded shyly.

“Work out?!” Sunggyu challenged with a condescending laugh. “We’re all complete strangers!”

“Doc Kim, don’t be like this,” the man said with a pout.

“Yea, Doc Kim,” Myungsoo played along with the other. But then his face fell when his eyes met with Sunggyu’s and he quickly amended, “Hyung.”

“The whole point of us getting a pack together was so that you’d find a mate,” Sunggyu revealed.  

“O-oh,” Myungsoo stammered, looking down at his feet, not knowing how to react quite yet.

Sunggyu then heard a long sigh from next to him. He turned to see Minyoung swirling her drink in her hand. “Yea, too bad you don’t know of any single omegas,” she said. “So hard to find. Where can one be?” she pondered aloud while pointing to herself.

Sunggyu slapped her finger away from her face before Myungsoo could see what she was implying. “Desperation isn’t cute,” he whispered harshly at her.

“Neither are you,” she retorted, sticking out her tongue.

“Hyung,” Myungsoo called out. He had finally gathered himself together again. “I told you that I won’t mate until you do. Besides, Mom and Dad didn’t specify who had to be in the pack, just that we needed to make one,” he argued.  

“Ah! Loophole!” the man cheered, putting his arm around Myungsoo’s shoudlers. “You must be a lawyer.”

“No, actually I’m an accountant,” Myungsoo corrected with an embarrassed laugh. “What about you?”

“Oh. I’m currently unemployed and living off of the money that I stole from my previous pack,” the man answered as if it were an everyday occurrence. The man then turned his attention towards the doctor. “See, we’re becoming less and less strange to each other,” he pointed out and then took a long sip from his drink.

“Whatever,” Sunggyu grumbled. He wouldn’t be able to go anywhere with those two, to knock any sense into their heads. Myungsoo was already enamored with the idea, and the man seemed just as stubborn. The doctor sighed. That just left the drunk friend with soup stains on his face and shirt. But the drunk seemed together enough, so Sunggyu decided to attack from that angle.

“Hey,” Sunggyu greeted, sitting onto the stool next to the other.

“Hey,” the drunk slurred, wiping his chin with his sleeve.

Sunggyu handed him a napkin to use instead. “How are you feeling?” It was better to start with a harmless question first in order to gage the other.

The man thought for a second and giggled, “Well, I’m alive. I have my health. Sort of. I have my love, Nam Woohyun!” he suddenly leaned back and shouted to his friend, and his friend threw him back a heart. The drunk waved him off, shifted his focus back to Sunggyu and whispered, “And I have my one true love, soju.” The man put his finger to his lips and shushed. Sunggyu sighed. He didn’t have the heart to tell the other that he was only drinking water, but he doubted that would wipe the smile off of the other’s face. “So things are good.”

 _We just bought a home and Myungsoo is already trying to make a mess of it_ , Sunggyu thought as he studied the other. He shook his head in disapproval. But, the man gave him an intelligible reply so he started to probe further. “Why did you guys come to my office?”

“For a consultation,” the other responded. He then frowned. “But you didn’t tell us anything. You are a bad doctor. I’m going to revoke your license.” He then pretended to grab something from off of Sunggyu’s chest and chuck it across the room. Sunggyu turned around to see if anything actually landed onto the floor. But nothing ever did. “There. All gone. Doctor no more,” the drunk teased playfully.

“This punk,” Sunggyu cursed. “How was I supposed to—“ He stopped himself. He had enough of senseless arguments for the night. “I’m still a doctor. A good doctor,” he mumbled under his breath, assuring himself. After calming down, he tried again, “Do you guys really not have a pack?”

“No.”

“Why’d you leave your pack?”

The drunk sighed and drained the rest of his water. He even sucked air through his teeth as if he had just finished off some liquor. “I didn’t get along with my alpha,” he admitted, circling the rim of his empty glass with his finger.

“Oh,” Sunggyu said as if he understood. “They do say that some betas are borderline alphas, and have some alpha tendencies. That might be a reason. How’d you test?”

“O—“ the drunk then paused to laugh at himself. “F. I failed.”

“What?” Sunggyu blubbered, not understanding as well as he thought he did. _How did this kid manage to flunk an unflunkable test?_ He pulled the glass from the other’s hands. “I think that you had too much to drink.” He judged that the other was getting drunk off of a placebo effect now, so cutting him off, even from water, should sober him up.

The other shook his head and took his glass back. “Do you ever feel like…there’s never enough…even when there’s too much, clear and fuzzy but you want numb?” he spoke almost nonsensically. “Nothing? But it’s also cold. And you just want to feel…something. You know?”

“What?” Sunggyu mumbled. He had barely even understood the drunk’s slurring, let alone get what he meant. But then he met with the other’s eyes, and that had said enough. The drunk was in pain, emotional pain. Things weren’t as good as he said. Sunggyu sighed and took the glass away again. “You can’t fill that hole with alcohol. Come on, give me that.”

The other wouldn’t let go. “No mine! Get your own.”

“Glad to see that you two are getting along,” the drunk’s friend showed up, smiling brightly and with Myungsoo closely behind.

 _In what world?_ “Hyung,” Myungsoo broke into his thoughts. He then put an arm around the man next to him. “This is Nam Woohyun and that is Jang Dongwoo,” he finally introduced the two. “And we were thinking…”

“A trial period!” Woohyun blurted out unable to contain his excitement. Myungsoo nodded along happily.

“Huh?”

“Dongwoo and I live with you for two weeks, and if we don’t get along, you can kick us out,” Woohyun explained the plan. Then he turned to look at Myungsoo. “But it’s not like that’s going to happen, right?” Myungsoo nodded again. Woohyun shook him gently. “I like this kid.”

“That kid is mine. It’s my home,” Sunggyu grumbled under his breath. He was fighting a losing battle. His eyes narrowed on his smiling dongsaeng, already abandoning him for a new hyung. _Why did he make me leader if he’s just going to undermine me_? “It’s my home,” Sunggyu repeated more loudly. The smile fled Myungsoo’s face as he glared at the doctor. “Our home,” Sunggyu corrected.

“That’s right. It’s _our_ home,” Myungsoo repeated. Then another smile crept onto his face, a pleading one. “Hyung, it’s just two weeks. But I’ll do whatever you say afterwards. If you really don’t like them then…” he offered.

“Okay, fine,” Sunggyu groaned, finally giving in. _It’s just two weeks. How hard can that be?_

“We’re going to be brothers!” Woohyun cheered, breaking out into a small victory dance (or that’s at least what Sunggyu supposed it was and not bodily tremors). Myungsoo joined in on the random shaking. The doctor shook his head and resumed drinking. He had a feeling that he’ll be drinking a lot more for the next few weeks.

“Oh no! Dongwoo!” he heard Woohyun yelp. Sunggyu looked next to him only to see Dongwoo will his head resting on the bar and his eyes closed. Woohyun ran over and began slapping his cheeks. “You can’t go to sleep yet.”

“But it’s my bed,” Dongwoo argued in a tired voice. “You go to sleep too.” He didn’t even bother to open his eyes when he spoke.

Minyoung sat on the other side of Sunggyu, pouting. “Oh look, you’re all forming a pack without me. Yay,” she lifelessly cheered, watching the men gather together at Sunggyu’s other side.

Sunggyu scoffed, while watching the disaster unfolding next to him. _Yea, some mess of a pack that we’re going to be._


	4. Phase III

Dongwoo was packig up his toiletries in the bathroom. He and Woohyun had really taken over this small hotel room. Every time Dongwoo thought that he packed up the last item, another one would appear. Did Woohyun really need this many facial products? Dongwoo clicked his tongue and shook his head as he put yet another bottle of toner into a bag. Woohyun was taking his prowling seriously, grooming himself the best that he could. Unfortunately, his looks wasn’t what needed work. _He should try healing himself first_ , Dongwoo thought as he walked over to the shower in order to take the bottles from there.

“Uh oh,” Dongwoo mumbled as he pulled a nearly empty body off from the shelf. It was his prescription shampoo, the one laced with a beta scent. Dongwoo chewed on his lips, studying the bottle as he moved it around. If he poured some of Woohyun’s shampoo into there, he could stretch it for a bit longer. “But the smell would be weaker,” he mumbled. His eyes flew to the ceiling as the thoughts sped about his head. He just had his heat, so he should be fine. But the last one was so…pungent. What was his natural scent like now? Dongwoo started to become more anxious the longer he stood in front of that shower. His heart was racing in his chest, and nervous sparks fired throughout his limbs; yet, he was still, just as much as a fixture in the bathroom as the sink or the showerhead.

“Dongwoo-yah!” Woohyun shouted as he poked his head into the bathroom. “It’s moving day!”

“Eung,” the omega grunted in response, barely moving his lips. “You’ve said that a couple of times already.”

“That’s because you’re still not acting excited,” Woohyun retorted, moving closer to Dongwoo and patting him at his sides. “Get excited,” he urged the other, patting him down more roughly and trying to get his friend to move, like Jang Dongwoo was a wind-up toy that needed to be spun into motion. “It’ll be a new start for us.”

“Oh, uh, yea,” Dongwoo muttered, not giving any reaction and tolerating the other. However he did finally move. He then turned slightly towards the other, eyes still fixed on the bottle. “I’ll need more of this, but I don’t have time to pick it up from the pharmacy.” He nodded towards the lone bottle on the countertop. “I’m running low on the cologne too.”

“Oh is that it? I thought something more was wrong,” Woohyun commented as he took the bottle out of the other’s hands. He opened it up and peered inside with one eye open. He then nodded, ascertaining that it was indeed almost empty, and closed it back up. “I can pick you up some more. I can’t get a job without the bastard’s letter, so I have nothing else to do,” he offered. His tone appeared to be casual, but the way he slammed the bottle onto the countertop betrayed him. Woohyun was still aggravated (and rightfully so) about his situation.

Dongwoo gave the other a quick but strong hug, hoping to squeeze out all of his negativity. “Thanks, Nam-goon! I owe you,” he spoke.

Woohyun gave him a glimmer of a smile. “It’s no problem,” he assured.

“I got to go to class. Can you finish up here?” Dongwoo asked as he was already heading out of the bathroom door. He had delayed too much in the bathroom and didn’t get nearly as much packing done as he wanted to. The bottles had been thrown carelessly into the bags, some of them already empty. Woohyun now was kneeling down and sorting through his friend’s haphazardly packed bag.

“We don’t have much anyway. I can do it,” Woohyun muttered as he took some things out of the bag, like the hotel’s toiletries that they didn’t need to take. He sighed and looked up at his friend. “I’ll pick you up at the station and bring you to the complex later. Myungsoo-ssi texted me the location.”

“Good. I’d be lost without you, Nam-goon. Literally,” the omega shared his gratitude towards the beta. He felt a smile spread thinly across his face. Yes, without Nam Woohyun, Dongwoo and his trademark smile would’ve been lost for good. But now, they were slowly being recovered. The omega truly wished that he could do the same for Woohyun. He’d work harder on it, but after he came back from class. Now he even had less time to catch the train to campus. “See you later,” he yelled as he rushed out the hotel room.

“See ya!” Woohyun yelled back just milliseconds before the door closed. He got up and peered out of the bathroom just to make sure Dongwoo was, in fact, gone. He was. A crooked smile flashed his face. “No problem at all,” he mumbled under his breath as he walked back up to the sink and picked up Dongwoo’s special shampoo. He unscrewed the lid and then reached for his own shampoo bottle.

It was really no problem for Woohyun to pick up the omega’s prescription because he was just going to not do it. Plain and simple. He began to fill Dongwoo’s bottle with his own shampoo, and he’d do the same for the cologne. Lately, Dongwoo had been so absentminded and ridden with a cold that Woohyun doubted the omega would notice his change in scent. Not only that, but Dongwoo blindly trusted Woohyun. The beta’s slender smile faltered. Dongwoo trusted him too much, and Woohyunn felt a little guilty for betraying his friend’s trust. _But it’s for the best_ , he reassured himself over and over again in his head as he screwed the lids back on. The both of them, they needed to make a fresh and _honest_ start with this new pack. No more lying, no more hiding who they were or how they felt, no more suffering in silence.

And this, this was going to be the perfect test for those two betas. How will they handle having a male omega in their pack? How will they handle Jang Dongwoo?

* * *

_Something’s not right_ , Sunggyu thought. There was something off, something wrong. He swore that he locked the front door of the main house when he left. He had checked it a few times before leaving, even walking back up from the bottom of the stairs in order to make sure. But now, the door was unlocked. Sunggyu scratched between his eyebrows as he looked at the door, still perplexed. Myungsoo shouldn’t be home yet. He had texted Sunggyu that he’d be home later, and Sunggyu’s last appointment for the day had been cancelled.

 _Did Myungsoo come back for something?_ He thought as he opened the door slightly. Sunggyu then dragged in a long sniff, but he smelled nothing, like always. He cursed himself in his mind. Why did he even try? He wouldn’t be able to sniff out an intruder, if there was one. _Damn_. He gripped his bag more tightly, knuckles turning white. He then, tried to clear his mind and perk his ears, straining them to find any traces of sound. “Huh?!”

Laughter, not a hearty, rich laugh, or Myungsoo’s cackling, but it was almost voiceless, like someone was gasping for air. Sunggyu cocked his head. He’d never heard it before, but then a voice that was more familiar drowned out the strange laughter, Shin Dongyeop the famous comedian. “What?” Sunggyu muttered lowly. Someone had invaded his home just to watch a rerun on television? What kind of intruder was this?

In case he was a violent one, Sunggyu gripped his briefcase with both hands. It was the closest thing to a weapon (and a shield) that he had. He took in a deep breath and then ran inside in order to take the intruder by surprise.

“A-ah!” the intruder fell off of the couch in shock and onto the floor. Sunggyu chanced stepping closer as the stranger slowly gathered himself and sat back up on the floor. This wasn’t a stranger at all, but Sunggyu wished that he was.

“Y-yah!” Sunggyu stammered at the other, as he put his briefcase on the floor. This person was harmless. He was just a pain in Sunggyu’s side and was stuck there like a thorn. “How did you get in here?”

“Myungsoo-ssi gave me the code to the building,” Woohyun answered as he clambered back onto the couch. He was rubbing his chest roughly with his hand and closing his eyes tightly, still not over the shock. He laid across the couch, like an ailing patient, and took in a deep breath before opening his eyes and looking at the doctor. “He told you that I was moving in today, right?”

“He did.” And Sunggyu had forgotten about it throughout the course of the day. But he wasn’t going to let his new “packmate” know. The doctor didn’t want to seem like he didn’t care about them. He just didn’t know _how_ to care about them is all. “But I didn’t expect to make yourself at home so quickly,” he lied.

Even though Sunggyu hadn’t made up his mind about these two betas, this wasn’t a good start. Nam Woohyun had started their trail period off on the completely wrong foot. Sunggyu looked about the couch. First of all, Woohyun should’ve been at work, but he was slacking off in front of Sunggyu’s face. Second, Woohyun had invaded his home and pantry in his absence. Sunggyu groaned as he picked up an empty bag from the coffee table. And he’d eaten all of Sunggyu’s favorite chips. The doctor glared at the other, only to see that Woohyun was staring back at him with a gaze just as piercing.

“Why not? This is my home,” Woohyun challenged as he sat up again on the couch.

“For two weeks,” Sunggyu remarked as he crumpled the bag in his hands.

Woohyun scoffed. “That’s awfully pessimistic.”

“Well, you’re not off to a great start,” Sunggyu snapped back.

Woohyun jumped off of the couch suddenly, Sunggyu reflexively bent down to pick up his briefcase/shield again, preparing for the beta to lunge at him, but Woohyun didn’t. He stood still, looking the doctor up and down but never meeting his eye. His fists were shaking. He didn’t lunge at the other, but he was holding himself back. He sighed. “Excuse me for thinking it best not to put up a front for two weeks, tricking you into thinking that I’m something that I’m not,” he spoke through gritted teeth. It wasn’t a snarl, but he was trying his best to keep his tone steady. He then unfurled his fist and raised his gaze to the other. He raised his arms. “This is me, Sunggyu-ssi. Take it or leave it,” he spoke in a resigned voice. The doctor stared at him curiously. Woohyun was yielding to him but not without friction; however, he still did. After a few seconds of staring at each other in silence, Woohyun dropped his gaze and nodded over to the duffle bag by the couch. “Where should I put my things?” he asked.

“Oh, right,” Sunggyu muttered as he put his own bag back down. “Myungsoo and I agreed that it would be better for the four of us to live in the main house for the time being, so that we can get to know each other,” he explained. Woohyun nodded along, agreeing but reluctantly so. He was chewing on his lips and still avoiding looking the doctor in the eye. Sunggyu put his hands in his pockets and shifted awkwardly in his place. “You guys don’t have mates, right?” he asked in a tentative voice.

“No,” well, that did nothing to allay Sunggyu’s worries. The ‘no’ was long and drawled out. Sunggyu waited because it sounded like Woohyun was about to say something else, but he never did. _How strange!_

Sunggyu would just have to assume that the other was being as truthful as he promised he’d be, in spite of being dodgy. “Good,” he tried to move forward. Woohyun sniggered at that remark. Sunggyu tried to brush past that too, but he still pouted and he spoke: “Then we all can fit in the main house just fine. There are two open bedrooms, one on this floor and another on the second. Take your pick.”

Woohyun picked up the bags and walked up to Sunggyu. “Dongwoo and I will take the one on the second floor,” he replied.

Sunggyu half-smiled. “You can have your own room, you know,” he offered. They should at least spend the trial comfortably, and things might be easier if they all had their own space to escape to.

But Woohyun thought otherwise. “It’s fine,” he insisted.

“Okay,” Sunggyu yielded, eyeing him suspiciously. _Who wouldn’t want their own room?_ But seeing how firm the other was, Sunggyu knew that he couldn’t change his mind. His eyes dropped to the four bags that Woohyun was carrying. “Can I help you carry something? Do you have more in the car?” he asked.

Woohyun shook his head. “No. There’s nothing more,” he revealed. “This is all we have.” He gave the other a sad smile. And Sunggyu was about to give the other some pity in exchange, but then Woohyun threw the heaviest bag at Sunggyu, who just barely managed to hold onto it before it fell onto the floor. “But you can carry this. It would be nice to see if the leader could carry his own weight around here,” there was a teasing lilt in his voice and he did his best to not smile. “Where’s the room?”

Sunggyu scoffed as he put the bag properly on his shoulders. “You’re _really_ strange,” he remarked, but led the way regardless. He shot a glare back at the other as he led the way up the stairs and to the bedroom. “It wouldn’t hurt if you could try to suck up to me, just a little, so that I don’t feel like throwing you out right now,” he offered Woohyun some advice.

Woohyun walked past him and into the bedroom. He threw the bags onto the bed. Then he faced the doctor again and gestured vaguely at him. “Nice tie,” he ‘complimented.’

“Thanks,” Sunggyu muttered, tugging at his tie. “Now was that so hard?” he added. He was about to turn around to leave but Woohyun called to him.

“Sunggyu-ssi, thank you for giving me and Dongwoo a chance. I _really_ appreciate it.” Now that was a compliment. Sunggyu grinned. Maybe he won’t throw them out today.

The doctor then dropped his smile. He wasn’t going to let his guard down around them just yet. “Thank Myungsoo,” he corrected the other. Truth be told, it was Myungsoo who arranged all of this. The real compliment belonged to him. And all Sunggyu had was a nice tie. The doctor should at least return the effort, try to eliminate this friction between them so that they could travel down this road smoothly. “Oh, Woohyun-ssi? Thank you for being honest with me,” he said, before going across the hall into his own bedroom (his nice tie was quickly feeling like a nice noose). He didn’t wait to see how the other reacted. This whole encounter had made him feel awkward enough.

Sunggyu closed the door to his bedroom as soon as he walked in, and after giving it a second thought, he locked the door. He then let out a deep breath and fell back onto his bed listlessly, like a balloon deflating. He stared at the ceiling, deep in thought. He still wasn’t sure if this whole trail thing would work out. Sure, Nam Woohyun hadn’t been anything but honest with him. But that wasn’t the beta he was worried about. In every encounter he had with Woohyun up to this point, the beta was loud, outspoken. Sunggyu was starting to get a grip on his character already. Jang Dongwoo, on the other hand, they barely had a conversation together, and Dongwoo wasn’t sober for the most of it. And that man’s entire being seemed so shrouded and cold. Plus, he looked kinda scary, despite his size. Sunggyu had a feeling that this whole trial would be dependent upon how he felt about Dongwoo. There was something off about him too.

While Sunggyu was weighed down by doubt (which made him weighed down by sleep so he took a nap), Myungsoo thought that this was the best decision he’d made since finding the complex. After coming home from work, he found Woohyun watching one of his favorite shows, and so he joined him. They began to talk while they watched and realized that they had similar tastes when it came to shows and movies. They talked for so long that Woohyun realized that he was late to pick up Dongwoo from the station. Myungsoo asked if he could come along too, joking that it would be like picking a elementary kid up from school. And Woohyun agreed, saying that it was a good idea and that Dongwoo would like it.

And it was a good idea, all of it. For Myungsoo wasn’t normally outgoing and talkative. He was shy, even around people that he’d known for years. Even around Sunggyu’s parents, Myungsoo would hesitate to start a conversation at times and would be at a loss for how to continue it. In general, Myungsoo was more of an observer than a participant. He had always enjoyed watching stories unfold before his eyes, whether it would be a drama or people who passed him by on the street. But with Woohyun, it was different. When they first met at Jungyeop’s place, the conversation flowed so easily. There was no break, no awkward bump. Things just clicked. The last time Myungsoo felt like this was when he met Sunggyu for the first time. Ironically, it was at Jungyeop’s restaurant as well. And Sunggyu, even though he was three years older, was the only person that Myungsoo could talk freely with, without any worries of offending and sometimes without formalities (in banmal). Sunggyu always thought that Myungsoo liked him because he could easily push him around, and that was partially true. It was a level of comfort that he able to reach with a few people. And Woohyun was at that level too. For that reason, Myungsoo felt like he needed Woohyun in the pack. But he was a packaged deal with Dongwoo. Myungsoo didn’t mind. He assumed that he’d get along well with Dongwoo solely based on the fact that he was best friends with Woohyun. Sure, in the back of Myungsoo’s mind, he knew that they were jumping into all of this too quickly, but he was a believer of Fate. And so was Nam Woohyun.

Myungsoo and ‘Woohyun-hyung’ made their way to the train station in order to pick up the last member of their slapped together pack. Dongwoo was already there, waiting patiently for them, with a textbook opened in his lap as he sat on the bench. Woohyun put his finger to his lips, signaling for Myungsoo to remain quiet. Myungsoo nodded, mimicking the gesture right back, trying to seal his laughter in with the finger pressed to his lips. Dongwoo was so immersed in his book that Woohyun was able to walk up to the bench and then around it, until he was right behind his friend, all without notice. Woohyun then sudden gripped onto Dongwoo’s shoulders, and the student jolted, shaking with fright, and then laughter when he realized it was only Woohyun. But the laughter was short lasting and stilted, leaving behind an awkward silence that even Woohyun didn’t know how to cope with. So he just gestured towards Myungsoo.

Dongwoo’s lips then pulled back into a stiff smile. “Thank you for coming, Myungsoo-ssi,” he said, suddenly getting up from his seat.

Myungsoo waved his hand. “Don’t be so formal. We’re going to be a pack, right?” he tried his best to be friendly, but he was feeling as stiff as Dongwoo’s smile.

“Okay!” Dongwoo’s smile melted becoming smaller but more genuine, and Myungsoo felt himself slacken at it and smile back. Maybe he would be like the other two as well.

However, the decision wasn’t solely up to him. “But I would still use formalities with hyung. He’s strict about that stuff,” Myungsoo seriously offered that piece of precious advice.

“I’ve noticed,” Woohyun remarked.

Myungsoo’s head whipped towards him. “What did you do?”

“Nothing. I swear,” Woohyun answered. He shrugged and said to Dongwoo, “He just seems uptight.”

Myungsoo shook his head. “That would be my hyung,” Myungsoo said and then let out a deep sigh. He hoped that Sunggyu could loosen up a bit for all of their sakes or this was going to be a rough two weeks (or a rough lifetime as a pack). It would have to be Myungsoo’s job then to be the ‘welcome wagon’ (also because Sunggyu was asleep). He smiled again. “Let’s go home, but before we do, let’s get something to eat. I’ll buy.”

* * *

Sunggyu stumbled out of his bedroom after taking his nap. It was getting late and his hunger roused him from his sleep. He was half-surprised not hear the television blasting, and was fully surprised when he found himself alone in the house. How did they add two new members to their pack (tentatively) and he was still alone? Sunggyu sighed as he walked into the kitchen, scavenging for food. The loneliness was starting to make him homesick. He was starting to miss his father’s nagging, Hyungdon’s weird jokes…his mother’s cooking. It had only been one day, and Sunggyu was starting to regret everything.

But then noise filled the house again when the others returned. Sunggyu shut the fridge door and walked quickly to the front door to meet with them all (but as he got closer, he slowed his step as to appear more casual). “Where did you guys go?” he asked with a pout.

“We picked up Dongwoo-hyung,” Myungsoo answered with a broad grin and an arm around Dongwoo’s shoulders. Sunggyu frowned. That kid was getting close to those two pretty quickly. The doctor didn’t know how to feel about that. He analyzed the new hyung in question. Sunggyu quirked his head as he took the newbie in. Dongwoo was different this time. Sober, yes, but he was even different from when they’d met at his office. The student was grinning from ear to ear with an arm wrapped back around Myungsoo. He didn’t look scary at all this time, but there was still something cold about him. _His eyes_ , he concluded. It sent a shiver down his spine.

Sunggyu tore his gaze from the student and stared at Myungsoo again. “Did you get lost or something?” he asked.

“Nope, we got bingsoo,” the youngest replied, just as happy as ever.

“Bingsoo? Without me?” Sunggyu whined loudly, covering the grumbling noises of his empty stomach. “Isn’t that something we should all do together?”

“Then you should’ve come pick up Dongwoo with us,” Woohyun teased. He walked past the doctor, heading into the kitchen. “What’s for dinner?”

“Nothing!” Sunggyu yelled back bitterly. “I just woke up,” he excused himself.

“Nam-goon likes to think he can cook,” Dongwoo stated. “I’ll go make sure he doesn’t burned down your house, uh, our house… _the_ house,” he overcorrected himself. He then began to make his way into the kitchen, but he stopped and backtracked until he was in front of the doctor. Dongwoo bowed. “Good to see you again, Sunggyu-ssi,” he said before walking off again into the kitchen.

Sunggyu turned to Myungsoo. “What was that all about?”

“I told him to use formalities with you,” Myungsoo spoke with a slight chuckle. He was finding this amusing.

Sunggyu rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes followed the student’s path into the kitchen. “That’s a little too formal. I’m his hyung and not his grandfather,” he grumbled. He heard Myungsoo struggling to stifle a laugh. “Don’t say anything,” he warned.

“I didn’t say a thing,” but the cheeky smile on his face said it all. “But it’s his first day. It’ll be uncomfortable for all of us,” Myungsoo reasoned. Sunggyu raised an eyebrow _. It’s not uncomfortable between you three_ , he wanted to argue, but he didn’t want to set himself as an outcast just yet, even if he felt like one. “Let’s all sleep together in the Den, hm?” Myungsoo suggested. “That might make us more comfortable.”

 _Or not_ , Sunggyu held that back on his tongue. But Myungsoo had a point. Being forced into one room might be good for them. “Okay,” the doctor gave in. “I’ll tell…”

“Hey guys! We’re sleeping in the Den tonight!” Myungsoo exclaimed as he joined the other two in the kitchen.

“…the others,” Sunggyu finished his sentence for no one in particular. He sighed and hung his head, shuffling off to join the rest in the kitchen. But as soon as he stepped inside, Sunggyu heard shushing and the voices died down. He raised his head to see Woohyun at the range with a frying pan in one hand and a finger to his lips. Dongwoo tried to subtly take an egg out of his mouth and hand it to Myungsoo, while Myungsoo looked at his hyung wide-eyed, insisting that they weren’t doing anything wrong. Sunggyu waved them off and took a seat at the island, watching them still gathered around the range talking in hushed tones.

Sunggyu didn’t get it. Those three seemed to instantly click. Was their something magical about the bingsoo they had? Did something else happen? Did they drink? Myungsoo was there, talking as if they’d been friends for far longer than a few hours, which wasn't usual for the accountant at all. That perplexed Sunggyu the most. How did Myungsoo feel so at ease? Whereas Sunggyu felt nothing but friction with Woohyun, and with Dongwoo just now, Sunggyu felt like there was this wall between them. _Even worse_. Sunggyu rest his head in his hands. He didn’t get it. They were all at the same level. They were all betas.

 _But_ … _we’re not_. Sunggyu’s eyes fell on Dongwoo and then Woohyun. To Myungsoo, Sunggyu was always a hyung, but to those two, Sunggyu was something more: a leader. And Sunggyu was starting to feel the weight of that title.

* * *

The Den. Dongwoo had never been scared of that word before in his life. When growing up, he loved to sleep there with his parents and noonas. He’d been the youngest of his entire pack, and the smallest. He remembered squeezing himself in between the bodies of his packmates snuggly, feeling warm and safe. And in his last pack, most of the fond memories Dongwoo had with them happened in that room. Taehwan would tolerate Dongwoo cuddling against him because the room was cold (he’d always too hot for it in their own room). It was some of the few times Dongwoo felt like they were a _real_ pack, and that they were a _real_ couple.

But now, hearing that they’d spend the night in the Den, Dongwoo was terrified. Before going into the room, Dongwoo doused himself with his cologne, masking his natural scent the best he could and then he covered himself from head to toe, even wearing socks and drawing the hood of his sweatshirt over his head.

“Come on, you smell just fine,” Woohyun remarked as Dongwoo asked him to sniff him for the 10th time. He yawned. “Let’s go. I’m tired.”

“Alright,” Dongwoo finally gave in and then they went to meet the other two in the Den. As for those two, well, Dongwoo really liked Myungsoo. He seemed like a good kid. When they went to eat bingsoo, Dongwoo was rambling on about what he’d learned that day in class. Every so often, Woohyun would ask a question or give some sort of reaction, but Myungsoo didn’t appear to be listening at all. His eyes, his whole body seemed fixated on the bowl of shaved ice in front of him. Dongwoo felt as if he were boring him. But once Myungsoo had his fill of the dessert. He was then as fixated on Dongwoo as he’d been on the bingsoo earlier and asked a question about what Dongwoo had said mid-ramble. Myungsoo _had_ been listening, even though it didn’t look like it. And he _was_ a good kid, albeit a little strange (but weren’t they all). But Sunggyu, on the other hand, he was a little scary, and their first encounter was to blame for that image (and Dongwoo couldn’t remember their second). That impression didn’t fade away as they walked into the Den. Sunggyu was standing there with his arms crossed tightly across his chest.

“Sorry for taking so long,” Dongwoo blurted out an apology.

“We just got here too,” Myungsoo answered for the other. “Come on, let’s get settled.”

Getting settled proved to be difficult for Dongwoo. He tried to keep a safe distance from the others and use Woohyun as a barrier, but Myungsoo had tried to lay down between them. Woohyun, quick on his feet, said that Dongwoo had a tendency to roll around and kick in his sleep (which was quite the opposite, Dongwoo tended to curl up into a tight ball). Woohyun was offering to show the other his ‘bruises’ to Myungsoo, but Myungsoo refused to look and laid down next to Woohyun’s side. Dongwoo breathed a sigh of relief and his eyes searched out the leader, seeing where he was making his bed. Sunggyu was staring right back it him, clutching his blankets tightly in his hands. Dongwoo quickly laid down and hid behind Woohyun’s small frame, away from that gaze. _What is that about? Did I do something wrong?_ The omega thought. His eyes widened. _Does he know?_ Dongwoo slowly raised his head and looked for the leader again. Sunggyu made his bed off to the other side of the room, by Myungsoo and far away from them.

Dongwoo was grateful he did, but also saddened. Sunggyu didn’t seem to be making an effort. _Is he even going to give us a chance? Does he even want us? Why are we here?_

* * *

“Why am I here?” Sunggyu grumbled to himself as he sat down on the bench. He played his this thumbs nervously, twiddling them and on occasion, biting them. “The others better come soon.”

After his appointments were done, Sunggyu went to the station. _You should’ve come to pick up Dongwoo with us,_ those words followed him for the entire day, and although he felt strange picking up a grown man from school, at the same time, Sunggyu didn’t want to miss out on any fun…or food. He wanted to show those two that even though he was the ‘leader,’ he wasn’t above them. To be honest, Sunggyu felt like he was only a leader in name. And he’d only acquired that title because he was the oldest _. But not by much_ , he pointed out.

Sunggyu sighed. He had a feeling that the other two weren’t coming. In trying not to be an outcast, he casted himself out even further. He stood up as was about to leave. But then he fell right back into his seat. There was still Dongwoo. Dongwoo would come, eventually. _Maybe, I could chip away at that wall,_ he thought as he tugged on his thumb with his teeth.

“Oh! Sunggyu-ssi! Are you here for me?” Dongwoo suddenly appeared right in front of him, startling him slightly.

Sunggyu tried to catch his breath as he stared incredulously at the other. _Who else would I be waiting for?_ But instead of saying at, all he could manage was an “Eung.”

“Did Namu tell you that I was bad with directions?” the student asked, still standing in front of the doctor and his hands wound around the straps of his bag. Now Sunggyu _really_ felt like a parent picking up his child from school. So he stood up.

“No,” the doctor answered with a small shake of his head.

“Oh,” Dongwoo muttered. “Well, I am.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” Dongwoo replied and dropped his gaze to his feet. “Should we get going then?” He gestured behind him. He then spun around, getting ready to leave.

“Ice cream!” Sunggyu blurted out. He walked up to the student’s side. “Let’s get some ice cream before we go home.”

“Okay,” Dongwoo happily agreed.

* * *

So now here they were, sitting at a small table at an ice cream shop. Between the gaps of awkward silence, a few words were exchanged. “Can you hold this please?” “Is that you favorite flavor?” “Oh, this isn’t my favorite either. I was just in the mood for it.”

Sunggyu huffed. He’d never put a crack in the wall this way, not with casual conversation _. Time to make a stronger attack_. “I don’t really know much about you,” Sunggyu confessed. “Last night, after dinner, you locked yourself in your room.”

“Uh, well,” Dongwoo stammered as he held the ice cream cone in his hand. The dessert was melting and dripping down his hand. That cold feeling seemed to wake him up and he finished, “I need to study. Sorry.” He then tilted his head so that he could lick the stream of ice cream dripping down his hand. Sunggyu handed him a small stack of napkins.

“There’s no need to apologize. You’re working hard,” Sunggyu said as the other took the napkins from him. He stared at his own ice cream, melting slowly in a cup. “If anything, Woohyun-ssi should apologize for staying home all the time,” he grumbled and took a large bite of ice cream.

“He has a reason to,” Dongwoo was quick to protect his friend. The student must’ve seen Sunggyu swallow the dessert quickly, getting ready to ask about it, because Dongwoo quickly added, “But it’s complicated. And it’s really not my place to say. I mean, it is sort of my place because it involves me, but he also has his own personal reasons for why he’s like that. Yea.”

“Okay,” the doctor muttered after a harsh swallow. His eyes darted all over the other. His mind was lost in Dongwoo’s words. But there was one thing that he could pull from this mess: Woohyun. Those two had a curious relationship. Woohyun refused to have his own room and then chased Myungsoo off when the accountant wanted to sleep between them. There was something strange about them. “Woohyun and you…what kind of relationship do you have?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Dongwoo asked.

Sunggyu folded his lips inside of his mouth while he thought about how to put this delicately. He hummed for a few seconds before finally speaking, “If we’re to be a pack, we need to get our pack dynamics in order. So what’s your…dynamic?” his confidence waned as he continued on. He ended with a slight laugh. It was awkward, the question, this situation, all of it.

“We’re best friends,” but Dongwoo didn’t seem awkward about it. He answered the question quickly and with a great grin on his face.

“That’s it?” Sunggyu blurted out. His skepticism got the best of him.

“Yea, that’s it,” Dongwoo replied more coldly this time. It was a shut and closed case. “Can I try some of that?” Dongwoo quickly changed the subject and pointed to Sunggyu’s ice cream. The doctor raised an eyebrow. The smile had returned to the student’s face, looking approachable once again. Sunggyu sighed as he scooped a portion of ice cream out. _Let’s try this again. A new attack._ He raised his spoon and fed the other. Well, that made Dongwoo happy. Sunggyu figured that he managed to make a dent in the wall. But he was too embarrassed to do anything more, even if he had an opening. He quickly took the spoon out of Dongwoo’s mouth and lowered his heated face, fixing his eyes on his cup. But he could hear Dongwoo laugh (at him). “This is what being a _real_ pack is like, huh? Sharing food, eating together, cleaning up after my mess,” the student spoke through his laughter.

Sunggyu raised his head. “Was it not like this in your old pack?” he challenged.

Dongwoo coughed, choking down the laughter. His face became stiff again. “Not really. But every pack differs, you know,” he replied. He then stuffed the rest of the cone into his mouth, but he continued to talk, “It wasn’t like my old pack was _bad_. It just wasn’t good. But when your roots are bad, it’s difficult to grow well. Sometimes the plant just dies. Especially when there isn’t enough sun or water. It’s not like it’s a weed. More like a fickle plant that needs a lot of care and the right conditions.”

“Dongwoo-ssi, what are you trying to say?” Sunggyu cut the other off. He rubbed his forehead as he tried to sort through the words. “Are we talking about packs or plants?” he asked, chuckling slightly.

“Weren’t we talking about botany?” Dongwoo answered back with a question of his own. His face still blank and stiff. “I’ve been readying a lot about medicinal herbs lately. Is it okay if I start growing them at home?”

“Oh, sure,” Sunggyu replied slowly, trying to follow this quick-turning conversation. “I think there’s a garden bed in the backyard.”

“Awesome! Thanks!” Dongwoo exclaimed and that strange smile appeared on his face again. “Can we go home soon? I have to study.”

“Oh, yes. Of course. Let’s go,” Sunggyu yielded and stood up. He was about to pick up his empty cup, but Dongwoo grabbed it before he could. The student had also gathered up the rest of the trash, before scurrying off to throw it away. “Oh thank you,” Sunggyu called out to his back. A corner of his mouth picked up into a sad, half-smile. _Cleaning up after my mess…like a real pack_. Sunggyu tapped his fingers against the edge of the table. Real pack? Sunggyu didn’t even make a dent in Dongwoo’s wall. The student had fortified it, making it stronger after Sunggyu’s ‘attacks’ and not weaker. Yes, Sunggyu knew well that Dongwoo had diverted the conversation away from what happened to his former pack, and about the pack in general. He even still kept the nature of his relationship with Woohyun under a veil. Sunggyu sighed. There was nothing wrong these days with male betas getting together. Sunggyu himself had gone on a couple of dates with men (which all failed miserably, all for different reasons). What was Sunggyu supposed to do? Outright say that he and Myungsoo don’t care if they were together? But suppose that his assumption was wrong, and he offends the both of them, and then they leave. _Myungsoo would never forgive me_. Sunggyu groaned. Everything was so complicated. He couldn’t get along with either Woohyun or Dongwoo. He couldn’t understand them either. They wouldn’t let him.

 _Too many secrets. This isn’t the kind of pack I wanted_.

* * *

“Clear my afternoon. There’s something I need to take care of,” Sunggyu told Minyoung.

His secretary shook her head. “No need,” she chirped back as tidied up a stack of papers in front of her. She then put the papers down and waved at the doctor to come closer. “Look,” Minyoung said as he pointed at his calendar on the computer’s screen. “Your mom told me to keep your schedule open every Friday afternoon so that you and Myungsoo could go prowling for mates. She even suggested haunts for you to visit here,” she revealed in a distracted voice as she pulled up a list. “Aha! I recommend this place. The atmosphere there is fantastic,” she said, giving him a thumbs up.

“Mom!” Sunggyu whined. He then focused his aggravation on the girl in front of him. “Yah, when were you going to tell me about this?”

Minyoung looked at him with an innocent expression. “I just did, didn’t I?” she fought back. “Besides, your mother doesn’t seem to know about the two strays that you picked up.” The secretary looked at him with a sly smile.

Sunggyu dragged his hand down his face in frustration, covering a groan. “I hadn’t told her,” he admitted after a few seconds. “I was going to tell her if it worked out.”

“You seem awfully pessimistic about this,” Minyoung retorted, returning her gaze to the screen. She pouted. Sunggyu might’ve been done for the day, but she still had work to do.

“Well, I am,” Sunggyu replied, leaning against her desk.

Minyoung glanced over at him. “It’s not over yet. You still have one more week,” she pointed out.

“Right. Only one more,” the doctor said with a sigh of relief. He lifted himself off of her desk. “I’m going home,” Sunggyu announced before walking away. _I have a stray to kick out_.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, when Sunggyu came home, Woohyun was on the couch. That unemployed jerk had been on the couch every day this week, watching mind-numbing hours of television and eating the house’s entire pantry of snacks. Sunggyu could’ve sworn that he’d put on weight since he’s been here. The doctor narrowed his eyes on the other, who was laying on the couch, eating chips. _His cheeks are definitely bigger._

“Still on the couch, I see,” Sunggyu sneered as he stepped inside of the room. Woohyun glanced up at him wordlessly but letting his sharp glare speak for him. He stuffed another chip in his mouth and returned his glare to the screen, which immediately softened as he laughed at whatever happened on the screen. Sunggyu huffed. He would not be ignored like this. He stomped over to the couch. “You were like that when I left. Did you even leave?”

“I did,” Woohyun confessed as he wiped crumbs from off of his chest before sitting up. “I had a lunch date but…” his voice drifted off and his eyes back to the screen.

“But?” Sunggyu repeated.

“It didn’t work out,” Woohyun answered with a shrug. But then he smirked. “That’s okay. I have another date tonight.” He stood up from the couch. “I should start getting ready for it.” Woohyun tried to make his escape, but Sunggyu was hot on his trail.

“Is that all you really do with your life? Sit all day in front of the tv or in front of a woman?” Sunggyu chided as he followed Woohyun up the stairs.

“Of course not,” Woohyun snapped back. He looked back at the doctor with a cheeky smile. “I’m not always sitting with a woman. We stand and do other things,” he joked.

 _This isn’t the time to be making jokes_. Sunggyu stopped the other in the hallway with his question: “How about sitting in front of an interview panel and trying to get a job?”

Woohyun stopped in front of his door and turned to the doctor, but his gaze didn’t reach him. “I can’t,” he admitted.

“Why not?” Sunggyu wouldn’t let the issue drop.

“I’m waiting on something,” Woohyun put it vaguely and began to open his door.

“Waiting on what?” Sunggyu raised his voice. He had enough of this, enough of their dodgy answers and their secrets. And Woohyun, at least Sunggyu knew that he could push around Woohyun more easily than Dongwoo. “What on earth are you waiting for?”

Woohyun had opened his door, but didn’t step inside. He let go of a long and shaky breath before meeting Sunggyu’s gaze. “A letter from my old alpha,” finally, a definite answer.

“Huh?” But it left Sunggyu confused. It hardly shed any light on the issue.

“I can’t get hired because companies don’t think I have any loyalty since I left my pack,” Woohyun explained. “And that’s why I’m willing to put up with you because even though you’re… _you_ , you’re still better than that bastard or any other damn alpha.”

“Woohyun, I tired of running circles around this issue,” Sunggyu admitted in a small voice. He rubbed his temples, closing his eyes, before opening them up again and staring down the other. “You’re going to _have_ to tell me what happened, back then. We can’t…move forward. We can’t become a family, unless you tell me.”

Woohyun seemed to understand, or at least he was nodding. He shifted in this spot. He then looked up Sunggyu with a small smile, begging him: “It’s not enough if I said that we left for a _really_ good reason?”

“It’s not,” Sunggyu shut him down. Woohyun’s plea was weak against this, and Sunggyu’s curiosity. The doctor would not just overlook this, especially since it violated a promise that Woohyun made with him earlier. “The first day you came here, you said that you wouldn’t be putting up a front. But right now, all I feel is a wall between me and you two.” _One last push_. “You said you’d be honest with me.”

“Fine! Fine.” Woohyun was defeated. He raised his arms as he leaned back on his doorframe. He lowered his arms, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “But it’s complicated, and it’s not really my place to tell you about Dongwoo. He had his own reasons, and they’re…”

No, he wasn’t going to let Woohyun talk circles around him too. Sunggyu interrupted him, “Then just tell me yours.”

Woohyun looked up at him, scared. “Mine?”

“Yea, yours.”

Woohyun let out another deep breath as he slumped further against the wall. His eyes were on his feet. He then closed them tightly. “There was this girl…Sojinnie,” he spoke her name in a pained voice. “I…loved her, a lot, for years, but she didn’t love me. She loved _him_.”

“Your alpha?” Sunggyu filled in the blank.

“Eung.” Woohyun hummed. He then threw his head back, hitting against the wall. “Aish,” he cursed his fate more than the pain. “It’s a really complicated,” he repeated. Woohyun rolled his head along the wall and looked at Sunggyu. “I…I want her to be happy, but she can’t be if I’m still there, you know. She knew how I felt. _They_ knew,” he revealed. He bit his lips and the tips of his ears were growing red. Sunggyu crossed his arms over his chest as he slightly listened. It seemed like admitting all of this for the first time, even to himself. “I had to let go so we could all move on,” Woohyun continued. He smiled sadly at Sunggyu. “They’re having a baby.” He scoffed and looked over at the other side of the doorframe, hitting it with his knuckles. “I _really_ lost her to him, didn’t I?” he muttered. “I just can’t see her with him or when _it_ comes…I just couldn’t.”

“That…is an _okay_ reason,” Sunggyu finally spoke after hearing the other’s story.

Woohyun looked over at him, shocked. “Really? Because it’s embarrassing,” he confessed with a chuckle. “It’s childish. I just ran away from it all.”

“Yea, like I said, it’s an okay reason, but it isn’t great,” Sunggyu retorted. Woohyun glared at him, which for some reason, made Sunggyu laugh. He was bearing with Woohyun’s friction easily now. The glare didn’t even burn him now. “Did you really have to leave because of that?” the doctor asked.

Woohyun lifted himself off of the doorframe. “It’s more complicated than that,” he repeated once more. “The rest of it involves Dongwoo.”

Sunggyu put his hands up and gave in. He’d pushed Woohyun enough for the day. “Okay okay. I got it. I’ll talk to him.” Dongwoo, on the other hand, Sunggyu needed to crack down on him more. That was a difficult task. “But I don’t know when, since he’s always locked up in your room ‘studying’,” he hoped that Woohyun would give him an opening, or they could at least ambush Dongwoo one of these days.

“He _really_ is studying,” Woohyun gave an excuse instead. He laughed. “What do you think he’s doing?”

“I don’t know,” Sunggyu replied. “He’s acting really suspicious though. It’s warranted!” he defended himself, raising his voice. “He’s so guarded and…gloomy. He gives me the chills.”

“Dongwoo? Jang Dongwoo gives you the willies?” Woohyun challenged, bursting in laughter as if it were ridiculous.

“Yea,” Sunggyu reluctantly admitted.

Woohyun tapped the other on the shoulder, rather hard, as he continued laughing. “I’ve known Dongwoo my whole life, and this is the first time I’ve heard of someone being scared of him. It’s like being terrified of a bunny,” he teased the other.

Sunggyu brushed his hand off. “Well, bunnies look innocent but they have powerful hind legs, teeth, beady red eyes…” he tried to reason.

“Okay, I get your point,” Woohyun cut him off. His expression then grew serious. “Dongwoo isn’t like that. He’s a good person through and through.” He then cocked his head, looking worried. “But I’ll agree. Dongwoo’s changed. Ugh, he isn’t usually like this, locked up in a room, spending so much time by himself. But he’s making up for lost time,” Woohyun stumbled around trying to answer, but he ended up at the same place where they started: “He…he has his reasons.”

 _I’m not getting anywhere._ “Okay. I’ll talk with him tomorrow,” Sunggyu told Woohyun, and himself. No matter how awkward it was, they had to have this conversation again. _If he talks about plants again_ …Sunggyu shook his head. “Good luck on your date tonight, Woohyun,” Sunggyu wished him before letting him go.

“Thanks…hyung,” Woohyun responded and went into the room, closing his room.

Sunggyu stared at the shut door and an amused smile slowly spread across his face. He and Woohyun were getting more comfortable with each other. Who knew? (Well, maybe Myungsoo did.) It gave the doctor enough confidence to try again with Dongwoo. _Tomorrow, tomorrow we’ll talk_.

* * *

“Huh?” Dongwoo took another whiff of the opened shampoo bottle. “This isn’t right?” he said as he took another, much longer sniff. He noticed lately that the shampoo had been sudsier than usual, but just this morning, he noted that the smell was off too. “Woohyun,” he growled as he popped the lid back onto the bottle. That jerk didn’t pick up his prescription. He probably didn’t even place an order for it. Woohyun had been planning this entire time to expose his secret (whereas Dongwoo was hoping to tell the truth after they registered). Dongwoo turned off the shower and grabbed for a towel. It was his secret, and he should be the one to decide when he’d tell it. Woohyun had to understand. Dongwoo ran out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. “Humph!” The omega didn’t get very far. _Sunggyu_. The beta’s eyes weren’t even open (or didn’t seem like it). And so it was no surprise that they had run into each other like this. “Oh, sorry. Excuse me,” Dongwoo apologize. He pulled his towel tightly around his waist and tried to skirt around the other.

“Are you done in there?” Sunggyu asked as Dongwoo walked past him.

The omega stopped and turned towards him. “Me? Yea,” he stammered.

The beta opened his eyes fully and took a step closer to Dongwoo, who took a half-step back. Sunggyu took another step, and he smiled knowingly. Dongwoo gulped. _Can he smell_ …Sunggyu reached up and put a finger through Dongwoo’s wet hair. “You forgot to rinse,” he revealed, bringing his finger down and showing that it was in fact covered in suds.

“Huh?” Dongwoo was confused.

Sunggyu chuckled. “You still have suds in your hair,” he repeated. “It’s not easy waking up this early, is it? I need coffee just to walk straight,” he joked with the other. But his face fell when he noticed how panicked and confused the other looked. “Go on. I’ll wait. I’m a patient person. I can wait,” the beta said, gesturing towards the bathroom.

“Oh okay,” Dongwoo mumbled as he quickly ran back into the bathroom. He turned the shower back on and heaved a great sigh. That was a close one. Dongwoo would have to be really careful from here on in. _Maybe I can wake up an hour earlier_ , he thought as he rinsed off. After he thoroughly rinsed off, he tried again to escape. He poked his head out of the bathroom door in order to see if the coast was clear. It was. “Assa!” Dongwoo cheered to himself. He tried to dart back into the bedroom but…

“You done?”

“Ah, now, yes. It’s all yours, Sunggyu-ssi,” the omega answered, as he slowed his step to a ‘casual’ walk as he moved past the other. _Where did he come from?_

“Dongwoo, hold on.” Apparently, Sunggyu had been lying in wait for this moment, and he wasn’t going to let it or Dongwoo pass him by.

Dongwoo stopped. “What is it? Did I forget something else?” he asked.

Sunggyu took a step in closer, and then another. The omega tried his best to remain still and not to run away with his tail between his legs. “No, it’s that…” Sunggyu began but he stopped. He sniffed. Then he sniffed again. He moved his head to the side and sniffed even more deeply. Dongwoo closed his eyes tightly. _This is it. I’m done for_. “ACHOO!” Sunggyu sneezed loudly. “Sorry. I have allergies,” he apologized. Dongwoo opened his eyes to see Sunggyu wipe his nose roughly. “Anyway, I want to know if we can talk, if we can _all_ talk as a pack. There’s a lot of things that we don’t know about each other that we should know. This is a major decision, and I want to make sure that it’s good for everyone,” he spoke as he rubbed. He sounded congested.

“But…” Dongwoo started.

“I know you have to study, but don’t kill yourself with it,” Sunggyu cut him off. “Your brain needs a rest. Look! You couldn’t even wash up properly today,” he teased. “So just…take a break with us.”

 _He won’t let me leave until I agree_. Dongwoo forced a smile on his face. “Okay. I can do that,” he agreed. One night without studying wouldn’t kill him, but spending more time with them was getting riskier by the passing day. _My own scent must be getting stronger_. He pulled the towel up higher on his body. He was lucky that Sunggyu was congested.

And the beta finally let the omega go out of his clutches. Sunggyu grinned and patted Dongwoo on the shoulders before going into the bathroom. Now that omega was free, he could sink his claws and maybe his teeth into his so-called best friend. He barged into the bedroom, and that’s as far as he wrath took him. Nam Woohyun was fast asleep. Dongwoo sighed and shook his head as he took off his towel and began to change into clothes. It was written all over the beta’s face, when he came home late last night: his date had been rough. His blind date had been named Sojin too. Woohyun acted as if it were a funny thing, but Dongwoo could see that it disturbed him, especially after he joked that the _real_ Sojin would be jealous after seeing him going out with all of these girls. “Three in one day,” Woohyun bragged. “I set a personal record.” Dongwoo glanced over at his sleeping friend. Woohyun wasn’t a playboy, and acting like one was putting him through some identity crisis. But the beta just wanted a happy ending and he wanted it quickly. Dongwoo sighed again. He hoped things would change once the letter came, and he’d be just as focused on finding a job as he was finding a mate.

But there was also another change in his friend. Dongwoo had noticed that last night Woohyun started to refer to Sunggyu as “Sunggyu-hyung.” They’d gotten closer. That was a good sign. Maybe running away to Busan was the best decision that they two of them had ever made.

However, it probably wasn’t the greatest decision to let his prescription run so low. If Woohyun would refuse to do it, then Dongwoo would have to get it himself. But until then, he had to make do with what he had. Dongwoo grimaced as he wavered in front of their hamper full of dirty clothes. The only way he could smell like a beta now was if he stole Woohyun’s dirty clothes. Dongwoo chuckled sadly as he dug through the hamper. It was a sad, his fate. He’d rather smell like an unwashed beta than an omega.

 _But things are better this way_ , Dongwoo told himself as he pulled on Woohyun’s sweatshirt. _It’s much better._

* * *

 

And dressing like a stinky beta seemed to do the trick. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. No one gave him strange looks or sniffs. He went to classes in peace and his classmates were none the wiser. _This could work,_ Dongwoo thought as he walked back home from the station with a spring in his step. Now he could get through dinner without fretting if he was too close to the others _. Tonight is going to be a good night._ He had a strong feeling about it.

And his feeling seemed to be right. As soon as he walked into the door, Myungsoo gave him a hug, welcoming him home. Dongwoo chuckled as he hugged the beta back. Myungsoo must’ve been used to receiving hugs often from his former pack because this quickly became how they greeted each other. Myungsoo must’ve been able to sniff out a fellow cuddle bug. But he could also sniff out another thing. Myungsoo suddenly stuck his nose at the rim of the sweatshirt and sniffed deeply. “Why are you wearing Woohyun-hyung’s clothes?” he asked with his nose still pressed to the fabric on his shoulder.

Dongwoo stiffened in fright. “I thought they were pretty,” he lamely excused himself.

Myungsoo let go of the other partially, keeping an arm around Dongwoo’s back. With his free hand, he waved it back and forth in front of his nose in order to get rid of the smell. Myungsoo grimaced. “Yea, but they smell like they haven’t been washed. You must have a bad nose like Sunggyu-hyung,” he teased.

“What bad nose?” Dongwoo looked up and noticed Woohyun and Sunggyu approaching them. They all must have been waiting for Dongwoo to come home so that they could leave. Woohyun was the one to ask the question.

“I’ll tell you later,” the leader promised. “Myungsoo!” Sunggyu suddenly snapped. And to be honest, Dongwoo almost snapped at him as well. Myungsoo brought his nose back down to the omega’s shoulders. His one hand gripped the shoulder tightly, painfully, not letting Dongwoo move. Sunggyu stepped closer and tried to tug Myungsoo away. “Let go of Dongwoo, so we can get going,” Sunggyu spoke at the other through his teeth, but Myungsoo didn’t listen. His nose had traveled up the length of the omega’s shoulders and he was now inhaling at the base of Dongwoo’s neck. “Soo, stop sniffing!” Sunggyu yelled as he yanked Myungsoo away. “You’re making Dongwoo-ssi uncomfortable.”

Myungsoo allowed himself to be pulled away this time, mostly because he was too in shock to fight against Sunggyu. The accountant’s eyes were wide as he looked Dongwoo up and down. “But the smell,” he muttered beneath his breath.

“My dirty laundry?” Woohyun tried to joke, inching closer and closer to Dongwoo and placing himself between his friend and the other two. He knew it. They all did. The jig was up.

“No,” Myungsoo denied. He turned to Sunggyu and pointed straight at Dongwoo. “Hyung, I think he’s an omega.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise you that this is a Donggyu fic. But it's also about other relationships too soooooooooooooooooooooooooo it's a slow build :)


	5. Phase IV

“Hyung, I think he’s an omega.”

Sunggyu’s eyes studied Dongwoo, from top to bottom. Woohyun backed up, his back pressing against Dongwoo’s front. The omega’s hands went up to his friend’s shoulders and gripped them tightly. Was this the end? The leader’s gaze was intense, and behind those eyes, Dongwoo couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but he was thinking long and hard. Then Sunggyu frowned. His glare shifted over to Myungsoo. “Myungsoo, stop fooling around. I’m starving,” he grumbled lowly and then left the house. The remaining three watched the door close behind him.

Once the door closed, Myungsoo moved again. First his eyes, they flew over to the duo again. Then his mouth, “I know what I smelled.” Lastly his feet, as he opened the door and ran out of it to follow after the other. “Hyung! I’m not kidding.”

“I guess this is it, Dongwoo,” Woohyun declared as he stepped away from the other and craned his neck back to look at him. He then turned fully towards him. “Let’s go!” he urged him and patted him on the shoulder, but Dongwoo remained still, frightened stiff. _What’s going to happen?_ Dongwoo was too afraid to find out. Things always changed when people found out that he was an omega, always. And as nice and welcoming as they were, Sunggyu and Myungsoo wouldn’t be an exception. Dongwoo knew it. _I liked the way things were. Maybe if I stay here, they will stay that way._

“Dongwoo,” Woohyun called out to him, breaking into his thoughts. While Dongwoo was drowning in his fear, Woohyun’s hand had left his shoulder and was now holding onto Dongwoo’s. “Let’s go, together.”

Dongwoo looked down at their hands and squeezed the other’s. That’s right. Things never changed with Woohyun. Woohyun never changed. He’d always been Dongwoo’s best friend. They were always together. The omega smiled. “Yea, let’s go.”

“What are you two doing?”

Their heads snapped over to the entrance, through which Sunggyu was poking his head. He was frowning more deeply than ever. “I’m hungry, and you two are just standing here holding hands. Let’s go! Come on, come on! Move it! I wanna eat!” he kept yelling at them until they made their way outside.

“That hyung is weird,” Woohyun whispered to Dongwoo as they were walking down the driveway and onto the street. Sunggyu was trailing behind them, and Myungsoo was in front of them.

The omega glanced back at their leader. Sunggyu had his hood pulled up over his head and his eyes were lowered to the ground. He looked tough, but Dongwoo had a feeling that the only thing on the beta’s mind was food. In fact, Sunggyu was licking his lips and muttering something to himself about chicken. The omega grinned. “Weird could be good,” he concluded. “We’re weird too.”

Woohyun shook his head. “Not me! I’m not weird,” he argued. He then jogged up to Myungsoo, who was sulking slowly in front of them. “I’m not weird, right? Tell Dongwoo that I’m not weird.”

“I know what I smelled,” Myungsoo was still fixated on that and how no one was willing to acknowledge it. “I still smell it.” He crossed his arms over his chest, stopping in the middle of the street, and was staring at Dongwoo more fiercely than he ever had. It sent a shiver down the omega’s spine. Myungsoo then looked past them to Sunggyu behind them. “He’s an omega. Why don’t you believe me?”

“Are you, Dongwoo?” Sunggyu asked directly. He came up to Dongwoo’s side and stared him straight in the eyes. “Are you an omega?” Dongwoo had been dodging this question for long enough. He finally gave his answer, barely nodding with an uneasy smile. Sunggyu responded, narrowing his eyes, “You told us that you were a beta.”

“No! I let you assume that. We didn’t lie!” Dongwoo tried to wiggle his way out of it, but he was hardly able to convince himself. He kept trying nonetheless, kept talking until he could see the other soften, “We just never said the truth. I mean, I didn’t tell you I was, but I also didn’t tell you that I wasn’t…”

“Okay okay,” Sunggyu muttered and covered Dongwoo’s quick-moving lips with his hand. “I got it.” His eyes darted all over, scanning their surroundings. They weren’t alone on this neighborhood street. Other packs were out prowling and going out to eat. “Let’s continue this conversation somewhere a little more private,” Sunggyu suggested as he removed his hand from the other’s mouth and wiped it on Dongwoo’s shirt, but Sunggyu turned the wiping into a hardy pat and then continued to walk down the street, while the other three were still standing still.

“I didn’t mean to,” Dongwoo raised his voice, as the leader walked farther and farther away. “I can’t help it. I can’t help what I am.”

Sunggyu stopped and turned towards the rest. Then, he sighed. “Dongwoo, it’s _fine_ ,” he insisted in a strong voice, shutting the matter down for the time being. “Let’s talk about this later.” He then pulled his hood forward and continued to walk down the street.

Fine? Fine wasn’t something that Dongwoo was used to hearing. Special, unique, strange…weird, that’s what he typically heard after confessing his type. But fine? That made him feel almost normal. And then there was Taehwan who had been anything but fine with Dongwoo’s condition.

“Is it really okay?” Dongwoo muttered softly.

“Whoa! I can’t believe it. An omega?!” Dongwoo slowly turned his head over to Myungsoo who was now shouting, but luckily, he had a broad smile on his face (probably happy that Sunggyu finally believed him and Dongwoo confirmed it). Myungsoo went to Woohyun. “Did you know?”

Woohyun nodded, his smile gradually growing to match the other’s. “I did,” he confessed.

“Whoa! That’s cool!” Myungsoo exclaimed, shaking his head and then opening his eyes wide again, as if to check that he wasn’t dreaming. Once he found out that he was indeed awake, Myungsoo grew even more excited. He hopped over to the omega and put his arm around him, shaking him. “This is _really_ cool! No alpha, a male omega. Our pack is different. Cool!”

Woohyun gave an uneasy smile as he responded, “We really are a little band of misfit toys.” Dongwoo looked over Myungsoo and over to his friend. Their gazes met and they raised their eyebrows at each other. They were both apprehensive, waiting for the other foot to drop. Myungsoo’s reaction was almost too good to be true.

“Yah!” Sunggyu snapped once again as he stomped towards the other three. “What part of ‘let’s not discuss this in public’ did you all not get?” He began pulling Myungsoo off of the omega, once again. “And aren’t the rest of you hungry? Am I the only one?”

“I am!” Dongwoo shouted. Sunggyu’s head snapped towards him. The omega gulped and lowered his voice, “I’m hungry too.”

Sunggyu nodded, fiddling with his hood again. “Then let’s eat.”

* * *

 

They all finally obeyed their leader and followed him faithfully and wordlessly into the restaurant, Jungyeop’s place, where everything had started. Now, it could either be a place of new beginnings or the end of everything because now, in a comfortable and semi-private space and with food in front of him, Sunggyu was finally ready to breech the issue. And he dove right into it as soon as the food was placed on the table: “So I assume that your reason for leaving your former pack has to deal with the fact that you’re an omega.”

Dongwoo had been drinking at the time, and so he sputtered a bit. He quickly put down the glass and wiped his mouth as he answered, “Yea, it does. It has a lot to do with it, in fact. I wouldn’t say it was _entirely_ the reason, but…it was a lot of the reason.” His voice petered out at the end, losing confidence in what he was saying because he wasn’t so sure in what he was saying anymore. He just knew that his omega nature wasn’t entirely at fault. There was more too it, but he didn’t know what.

“Tell him,” Woohyun urged him while patting the omega on the back. He had taken Dongwoo’s silence as hesitancy. “It’s okay. You can tell them.”

Dongwoo took in a deep breath. Even though he didn’t know the entire reason, the omega knew what he had to say next, no matter how hard it would be: “I…I was our alpha’s mate.”

“Mate?” Sunggyu repeated, scrunching his face in confusion. He narrowed his eyes on Woohyun. “But Woohyun said that you didn’t have one!” He pointed at the beta. “And didn’t you say _that_ girl was…”

“That’s all true too,” Dongwoo cut the elder off. Sunggyu’s sharp eyes snapped over to him now, but Dongwoo didn’t flinch. He guessed that he was getting used to it. Sunggyu stared at them like that a lot, a whole lot. “The bond broke, when he mated with her, even though he was still, you know, mine.”

The gaze softened, and his eyes grew wide. “He cheated?” Sunggyu asked.

Dongwoo nodded and admitted, “Well, I guess you can call it that.” Both Sunggyu and Woohyun scoffed, shaking their heads. Dongwoo sighed and dropped his eyes to his hands, fingers playing with his rings. “It’s all really complicated. I don’t think I could explain it if I tried. Or at least explain it well. It just wasn’t a good situation. Because I was who I was and he was who he was. And because Nam-goon is Nam-goon,” he turned it into a joke, looking up at his friend and giggling nervously. Woohyun then gave him the support that he was silently asking and hugged his friend around the shoulders. That gesture gave Dongwoo enough strength to continue, “So we left and dissolved the pack. We legally dissolved recently so that they could be together and so that the child would be legitimate.”

“And so that we could join a better pack too,” Woohyun added.

“Right, so we could find one too…and move on,” Dongwoo spoke the last part with a heavy sigh. He then finally raised his eyes to look at the other two across from his at the table. Sunggyu and Myungsoo were speechless. Sunggyu’s lips were opening and closing, scrambling for words to say but not finding any. Myungsoo, on the other hand, left his mouth hanging wide open. His eyes were almost as big, and scared too, like he couldn’t believe that the world could be so cruel and be that cruel to Dongwoo. The omega smiled, touched by their pity and at the same time, feeling undeserving for it because he’d lied to them. “So…that’s why. That’s why we’re here, like this,” Dongwoo spoke, filling the gaping and oppressing silence, trying to spur the others to move.

Then Sunggyu finally did. He cursed. “Shit. I can’t believe it.” He met the omega’s eyes. “How?” But before Dongwoo could answer, Sunggyu shook his head and swallowed his words. The question had come out on its own; apparently (and luckily) Sunggyu wasn’t interested in the details of Taehwan’s affair. “I’m sorry,” Sunggyu apologized as if he were to blame for everything.

“Eh, it's not your fault. If anything, I’m sorry that I wasn't up front about it,” Dongwoo replied and reached over, quickly patting the leader’s arm before his hand retreated quickly into his lap. He began to feel sorry for even that. Sunggyu’s own hand laid over where Dongwoo had touched.

“But we had our reasons,” Woohyun reminded him, squeezing Dongwoo’s upper arm in his hand.

“That’s true,” Dongwoo agreed quietly, nodding.

“They’re pretty damn good reasons,” Sunggyu raised his voice. He then lifted his arm and ran his fingers through his hair, sighing. “I understand now. This changes everything.” His hand fell onto the table. Dongwoo stiffened and stared down at that hand, whose fingers were now rapping against the table anxiously. _He’s thinking, but about what? How exactly does this change things? I’m still me. He said that everything was fine before, and now…everything’s different. How?_ “Dongwoo.” The omega raised his head gradually and his eyes even more slowly, dragging them away from the hand up to the beta’s fierce eyes, or Dongwoo had expected the leader to be still looking at him with his (increasingly less) menacing glare. Sunggyu’s normally sharp eyes were soft, almost blunt. “How are you managing?”

Dongwoo grinned and answered simply: “Nam-goon.”

“Eh.” Woohyun let go of him and gave Dongwoo a playful shove.

“No, it’s true,” Dongwoo insisted and nudged him right back. He then turned towards the others and explained, “Woohyun left the pack, even though his brother was in it too, which must’ve been hard. He also got us enough money for us to move and for me to enroll in school.”

“I didn’t leave just because of you,” Woohyun admitted sheepishly. “I told them about Sojin too.” Dongwoo cocked an eyebrow at his friend. When did he tell them? Dongwoo’s eyes drifted towards the others, and Sunggyu was nodding knowingly and Myungsoo was reaching over to pat Woohyun’s hand sympathetically. _So they do know? Huh._ Woohyun had really opened up to the other two, which was strange. Normally Dongwoo was the more extraverted of the two, but now Dongwoo was the one with secrets, meanwhile Woohyun had told these two, whom he knew for a little more than a week, something that it took him years to admit to Dongwoo, his feelings for Sojin, his most guarded (yet most obvious) secret.

Dongwoo was somewhat proud of Woohyun for telling them that. He now was the one hugging a deflated friend. “Still, you helped a lot, even before we left,” the omega pointed out.

“That’s true,” Woohyun concurred, slowly grinning up at his friend. He then turned towards Sunggyu and his grin faded into a frown. His anger built as he spoke, “You wonder why I don’t like alphas? I’ve seen ours abandon his mate almost right after they bonded. And then I’m the one being accused for having no loyalty.”

“Eh, you’re loyal,” Dongwoo assured him, trying to calm him down.

“Damn straight, I’m loyal!” Well, calming down Woohyun didn’t work, but the beta was trying to cool down his own temper by drinking. Dongwoo patted his back as Woohyun guzzled it down.

“Dongwoo, why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Sunggyu asked. Dongwoo tilted his head, wondering. “Not about the break-up, but about your type. Why didn’t you tell me from the _very_ beginning?”

Dongwoo pulled his hands back into his lap as the other spoke. He felt like he was getting lectured. “I guess I was used to hiding it,” he tried to defend himself. “And…”

“Hiding it?” Sunggyu interjected and then sputtered, “Pbft! So you’re an omega. What’s the big deal?” He shrugged, showing off how ‘cool’ he was with it. It made Dongwoo laugh and he mimicked the other. Sunggyu didn’t notice and continued his ‘cool’ act, “I see a lot of male omegas.”

“Yea, but you’re different,” Dongwoo argued, growing serious. “For most people, I’m the only one that they ever meet. I’ve never met another one myself,” he confessed softly. “There are also prejudices against people like me. You know that.”

“We don’t have them!” Myungsoo interjected.

Dongwoo nodded, accepting that but not backing down. “Most people don’t notice that they have them, but once I tell them, how they act towards me changes,” he told them. “They act like I’m fragile, weak. They probably won’t even treat a regular omega that way, but they act like I’ll break, as if a male being an omega was a chronic disease rather than…me just being me.” This time, he shrugged, feigning casualness, but it was hard not to when Sunggyu and Myungsoo were looking at him like _that_ , like they were trying to convince him with their stares.

“You aren’t,” Sunggyu fought back. “You aren’t weak _at all_.”

 _That’s strange_. “Why do you say that?” Dongwoo asked, fingers fidgeting at his pants.

“How long has it been since the bond broke?” Sunggyu returned with a question of his own.

“Almost two months, right?” Dongwoo looked over to Woohyun for confirmation, and the other nodded while filling his mouth with food.

“Wow!” Myungsoo exclaimed. “I heard that having your bond break felt like dying.”

“From your dramas?” Sunggyu asked with a sneer and a shake of his head.

“Eung,” Myungsoo hummed, ignoring Sunggyu’s chiding. Instead, his eyes stayed fixed on Dongwoo, twinkling in amazement, and he continued to explain, “It happens a lot, but those people, they are normally in the hospital for the first few months and then after that…they’re just broken people, in body and in spirit. But you! Whoa! Jang Dongwoo, you’re amazing!” he praised the omega while clapping. The beta then looked over to the leader, while still talking to Dongwoo, “You’re actually…fixing yourself instead of breaking.”

Dongwoo’s eyes followed his and fell on Sunggyu, who was thinking again, thinking too hard. And it made Dongwoo think himself, about everything, which he hadn’t done since the break-up. _That’s right. I should be worse off, but I’m…fine. Aren’t I?_ “I…I don’t want this to break me,” Dongwoo concluded. He nodded firmly at that. _That’s right_. “I won’t let it. My will is stronger than my body. It will carry me through.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard. You might kill yourself,” Sunggyu warned him. Dongwoo nodded and finally indulged in the food in front of him. “I’m serious,” Sunggyu insisted, apparently offended by the omega’s lack of care. “You could die,” the doctor repeated as gravely as he could. “I wouldn’t want that to happen.” Dongwoo looked up from his food, and Sunggyu looked away, at the beta besides him. “Myungsoo likes you a lot,” he commented, pointing at the beta.

“I do,” Myungsoo admitted freely. “So be careful, hyung.”

It all warmed the omega’s heart until it felt like it was burning. His cold body wasn’t used to it; it hurt a bit, but it still felt nice. He was smiling broadly. “I will. I will be _very_ careful,” Dongwoo promised and then returned the compliment, “I like you guys too.”

“Really?” Sunggyu sounded genuinely surprised.

“Yea, really. I like you,” Dongwoo repeated, still smiling. “I know I haven’t really shown it because I haven’t been as…open as I should’ve been, but…” his voice drifted off and his finger dragged along the grain in the table as the guilt dragged him down.

“You had your reasons,” Sunggyu reminded him and alleviated him of the guilt (partly), justifying his actions.

“Yea, I had my reasons,” Dongwoo echoed, feeling his smile pick up again. He then looked around the table and admitted, “I feel…comfortable here. I really do.” _I want to stay here, like this. Can I?_ he swallowed that down, unasked, along with the food in his mouth.

“You’re comfortable because you’re not the only weirdo at this table,” Myungsoo declared with a cheeky grin on his face.

“Why are you all looking at me?” Woohyun joked. Honestly, no one was looking at him, and almost no one laughed, except Myungsoo.

“No, not you,” Myungsoo replied with a chuckle. He then patted the doctor next to him. “Hyung, tell them about you.”

“What about me?” Sunggyu grumbled, looking away and drinking from his glass.

But Myungsoo wouldn’t let him off the hook. He nudged the elder until Sunggyu looked over at him, with an extra sharp glare. “You know, with the…” Myungsoo didn’t finish the statement, wanting Sunggyu to divulge the secret. He, instead, tapped his nose.

Sunggyu groaned. “Do I have to? Now?” he argued. The accountant nodded happily. But the doctor wasn’t willing to give in. He waved the other off. “Eh, they don’t need to know that,” he tried to brush the matter aside.

“But I told you everything about me. I opened up,” Dongwoo pointed out, pouting purposefully. He was interested in hearing the doctor’s secret and was doing whatever he could to convince him. “It’s only fair. Just tell us. Tell us a little bit. Please,” Dongwoo urged him in a sweet tone.

“Fine!” Sunggyu snapped, giving in. He then propped his elbows on the table and covered his mouth with his hands. “I…I can’t smell,” he muttered lowly, muffled by his hands.

“Oh,” Woohyun mumbled. “I forgot about that.” He then looked at the omega besides him, nudging him softly with his elbow. “Don’t you remember?”

“Oh, yea,” Dongwoo mumbled below his breath as his eyes darted all over, searching through the air like he was searching through his mind. In the hotel room, where Woohyun showed him an article of a premiere doctor, and then in the office, where the doctor,r red in the face, yelled at the both of them and threw them out, when Dongwoo was too afraid to admit that he was an omega for the first time in Busan, that had all been Sunggyu. But now, Dongwoo raised his gaze to his pack leader, with his hood still drawn over his head and was pecking through the food, chewing with his mouth wide open. Kim Sunggyu surely seemed like an entirely different creature now _. I almost forgot that you were…you._

“You knew?” Sunggyu challenged in disbelief. “About my nose? How?”

“It’s not so much of a secret when there’s several articles written about it,” Woohyun remarked. With a cheeky smile, he bragged, “I did my research.” He then took a large bite.

Sunggyu pulled back, leaning back into the chair. “Ah, right. You guys came to see me about the surgery,” he muttered, remembering everything with his eyes rolling back. And when they rolled forward, they fell onto Dongwoo. They grew to twice their size. Sunggyu pointed at him. “That was for you? You were the omega!”

“Right, that was me!” Dongwoo answered with a chuckle, amused by Sunggyu’s shock. “It was supposed to be my consultation. The surgery was for me. I wanted it. But…” Dongwoo paused and cocked his head before continuing. “Did you forget about all of that already? When you kicked us out?” _I almost did_ , Dongwoo kept that confession inside and instead busied himself by mixing the sauces and his and Woohyun’s drinks into a spare glass.

“Eung,” Sunggyu hummed, looking as dumbfounded as he did before. “You guys…seem completely different now from then.” His eyes kept flitting back and forth between the two men across from him as he laid his cheek in his hand.

“You too,” Dongwoo added, laughing at how dazed the doctor looked. But then Sunggyu perked up, after doing had said that, and cocked his head while pouting, probably wondering what Dongwoo’s first impression of him was. The omega smirked. He wouldn’t tell the beta that; there wasn’t much to say in the first place. Instead he joked, “You _totally_ looked like someone who could smell. Can you smell this?” He sniffed at the concoction in the glass, retched, and then forced it under Sunggyu’s nose.

“I can still smell!” the doctor shouted, automatically covering his nose and pushing the glass away. He glared at the omega, arms crossed over his chest and with a deep pout. “I just can’t smell certain things,” he grumbled lowly. But Dongwoo wasn’t fazed by the death glare or the gruff tone. He just continued to put more and more things into the glass, even taking the chicken bones from Myungsoo’s plate and plopping them into the glass.

“Like what?” Woohyun asked with a full mouth.

Sunggyu scoffed and leaned back in his seat. “I thought you said you did your research.”

“I might’ve just skimmed the articles,” Woohyun confessed, but he didn’t back down, “But I got the point: you aren’t affected when omegas are in heat because you can’t smell. Is that right?” He directed the question towards Myungsoo, who he knew would answer more honestly. And the accountant did, grinning widely and nodding like a bobblehead doll.

Sunggyu huffed, not wanting to talking about this but forced too. He even kicked his foot under the table. Dongwoo felt the beta’s leg brush past his own and laughed at the elder’s tantrum. Dongwoo hadn’t laughed this much in a long time. His throat was becoming rough and hoarse. Sunggyu, though, couldn’t hear his laughter above his own whining, but eventually the doctor opened up, “I can’t smell sex pheromones. That’s why even now I can’t smell that Dongwoo is an omega. I don’t even know what a beta smells like, and I’ve been one all my life. And…” Sunggyu paused and took in a deep breath, crossing his arms even more tightly across his chest, almost like a hug. “And it causes complications.” The laughter stuck in Dongwoo’s throat, like the lump of food he was trying to swallow at the same time. He coughed. _What kind of complications?_ Dongwoo wanted to ask, but Sunggyu was having a hard enough time confessing just that. At the sound of the coughing, Sunggyu lifted his gaze and it met with Dongwoo’s, and lingered there for a moment, then two, before the doctor spoke again, “So I can understand if you don’t want me as a leader.” He then closed his eyes, probably awaiting their ‘imminent’ rejection.

But it wouldn’t come, especially not from Dongwoo. “Eh, don’t say that,” the omega responded sincerely. “Right now, I can’t think of anyone better for the job.”

Sunggyu’s arms loosened around him. “Really?” he asked. Dongwoo nodded. At that, Sunggyu sat up straighter in his seat. A small smile was pulling across his face.

Then it faded when Woohyun interjected, “I can!” He pointed at the man across from him and named him, “Myungsoo.” The two of them leaned over the table and high fived each other, before sitting back down.

“Ah right! Myungsoo would be good. Maybe even better!” Dongwoo joined in the teasing, but after seeing how Sunggyu took the joke seriously, the omega tried to make amends, “I’m joking. But…” Dongwoo dropped his voice and leaned over the table, closer to Sunggyu. His eyes lowered for a second and then he raised them back up at the elder once they were closer to each other, very close. He could feel the beta’s breath against his hand, hot and slightly wet. Dongwoo laughed, causing Sunggyu to pull back in surprised. “Are you sure that pheromones are the only thing you don’t smell?” Dongwoo asked. Sunggyu tilted his head. The omega grinned and then lifted the glass that was in his hand. “I’ve been holding this under your nose for awhile, and you haven’t reacted,” he revealed with a chuckle, raising the rancid glass, higher up and closer to the beta’s nose.

“Get that away,” Sunggyu ordered nasally because he was now pinching his nose. “It smells awful.” He gagged. Dongwoo’s laughter stopped and now he was the one tilting his head to get a better look at the other. _Is he…faking his reaction?_ After all, the glass had been literally right under his nose for a few seconds, and the doctor hadn’t moved. And now, Sunggyu was looking at Dongwoo out of the corner of his eye, nervously. _He…he is faking it! Just how bad is his sense of smell?_ The omega’s stomach sank.

But he felt the glass being tugged out of his hand. Dongwoo glanced over and watched Woohyun sniff at the glass and gagging (for real). “Ugh, what is that? Is it toxic?” he whined while coughing and pushing the glass away, near the edge of the table.

“Hm? Does it really smell that bad?” Sunggyu muttered absent-mindedly, giving himself away _. I was right!_

“Yes,” Dongwoo answered lowly, making sure that the others wouldn’t hear but revealing to Sunggyu that he had heard it, that he knew.

Sunggyu’s face flushed. He suddenly stood up and reached for the glass. “I’ll get rid of it then,” he grumbled and left the table.

“You’re really getting another drink, aren’t you?” Myungsoo shouted after him.

Sunggyu turned around towards him. “Does it matter?” he challenged with a shrug of his shoulder before spinning back around and walking up to the bar.

“It does,” Myungsoo muttered below his breath, watching Sunggyu for a second more before turning towards the remaining two. “Hyung’s been drinking more lately. I’m afraid that it’s become a habit,” he admitted and cast one more glance over at the eldest.

“I bet it’s not that serious,” Woohyun tried to assure the other, but his eyes too were stuck on the doctor, studying his every move.

But Dongwoo had never been much of an observer. “Another drink sounds good,” he said as he got up from his own seat, following in the doctor’s trail.

“Yah! Jjang Ddong! You know you can’t hold your liquor!” Woohyun shouted after him.

“That’s why I have you! To carry me home,” Dongwoo yelled back with a laugh.

“I’m going to start charging for that!” Woohyun left him with that before leaning over to talk to Myungsoo, probably about all of Dongwoo’s horrible drinking habits. But Dongwoo didn’t care. There was something more pressing on his mind. _What is he up to?_

When Dongwoo caught up to their leader, Sunggyu already had a fresh drink in his hand, but he was still at the counter, in deep conversation with the owner. _He won’t even be able to smell me coming,_ Dongwoo thought with a smirk. He slid into a seat a couple down from them. They were both so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn’t even noticed the omega sit down. Dongwoo put his cheek in his hand, slightly covering his face, also bringing his ear closer to the other two. Holding his breath, he honed in on their conversation.

“How long has it been since the last outbreak?” Sunggyu asked in a hushed voice, eyes trained on the owner’s stomach.

Jungyeop brought his hand over stomach, rubbing it gingerly as he answered, “It’s been about two years, but these things can come back again.”

“Unfortunately,” Sunggyu responded, raising his gaze up to the other’s. Dongwoo shifted his head in his hand, trying to get a better look at them. Sunggyu’s hands were folded and resting on the counter, thumbs twiddling nervously and what Dongwoo could see of Sunggyu’s face was pale.

“Sunggyu, am I worrying for nothing?” Jungyeop asked. “I’m starting to feel like I did then.”

Sunggyu lifted his hands off from the counter and shoved them into the pocket of his sweatshirt. “There’s no harm in getting it checked on, but there’s great harm in letting cancer progress too far,” he replied. He then smirked. “If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll run the tests for you.”

The owner laughed. “No thank you. That would make me feel worse,” he declined. Jungyeop then stared down at his protruding belly. “I don’t want you to see all of this,” he mumbled, patting his stomach.

Sunggyu grimaced while he stared at the other’s stomach. “I don’t want to see it either, but if you paid me…”

“You wouldn’t even do the tests for me for free?” Jungyeop cut him off and feigned shock.

“I have to make money somehow,” Sunggyu voice sounded much lighter now. Even some of the color returned to his face along with a smile.

“Forget it,” Jungyeop spat back. “You have your drink. Now go!” he raised his voice, but there was a grin on his face that he couldn’t fight back. Sunggyu obeyed and stood up with his drink in hand. But Jungyeop wouldn’t let the other leave on that note. “Thank you…for the advice, Sunggyu.” The doctor nodded, not making much of it, and turned to leave. But he stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he saw Jang Dongwoo sitting a few seats away. His face paled again and he gripped the beer tightly in his hand.

“How much of that did you hear?” he hissed.

“All of it,” Dongwoo confessed with a smile. It wasn’t a crime to eavesdrop, and in this situation, he was glad he did. He popped up from his seat and walked up to the other. “Myungsoo’s uncle has cancer?” he asked in a low voice.

Sunggyu sighed and fiddled with the edge of his hood with his free hand. “Had,” he corrected the other. “It’s in remission.”

Dongwoo took another step closer to the other. “I heard that…”

Sunggyu’s hand flew over to Dongwoo’s mouth, clamping it shut once again. “Okay so it _might_ be back,” he hissed through clenched teeth. He then dropped his hand from the other’s mouth, wiping it against Dongwoo’s shirt yet again before patting his shoulder. “Don’t tell Myungsoo,” he begged with a friendly smile. He then pressed his finger against his lips.

Dongwoo’s eyes flitted over to the old man at the bar and then over to Myungsoo, who was laughing uncontrollably as Woohyun was poking at his dimple, completely unaware of his former packmate’s suffering. _This isn’t right_. Dongwoo shook his head at the doctor, refusing to comply. “Don’t you think he deserves to know? It’s his uncle. I’d want to know,” he argued. “Wouldn’t you?”

“He does, but…” Sunggyu yielded, his expression painted with guilt. “We don’t know for certain if it came back, so just…wait,” he tried once again for the other’s assistance, but Dongwoo was even less compliant now. The omega raised an eyebrow, silently challenging the other. Sunggyu winced and stamped his foot. “Aish, don’t look at me like that. I’ll tell him. I’ll tell him. But later. I don’t wanna ruin the mood tonight,” he excused himself and then ran away back to the table.

Dongwoo heaved a great sigh and shook his head at their ‘leader.’ Sunggyu wouldn’t tell Myungsoo, not tonight, not tomorrow. He probably wouldn’t tell Myungsoo until the very last possible moment. But what was Dongwoo supposed to do? Scold Sunggyu for not being more open, more honest? No, that’d be hypocritical. Dongwoo hid his true self for years. But Sunggyu was hiding this for Myungsoo’s benefit, or for what he thought would be Myungsoo’s benefit. For whose benefit did Dongwoo hide? Not for his own surely. _For Taehwan. It was all for Taehwan_.

“Yah! Omega Jang Dongwoo! What are you doing?”

Dongwoo snapped up his head, seeing the other three staring straight back at him. He grinned. Omega Jang Dongwoo. That was him. He wasn’t hiding anymore and his pack wouldn’t let him either. Hell, Woohyun was proudly shouting it in the middle of the restaurant for the whole world to hear, and he looked just as happy as Dongwoo felt.

This was his new beginning for all of them but also an end, the end for the ‘beta’ Jang Dongwoo. This omega wouldn’t mourn that loss; no one would. Dongwoo couldn’t contain his glee and skipped over to the table and slid next to his best friend, hugging him tightly. Woohyun returned it just as fiercely. Dongwoo knew that the both of them were feeling the same thing at this moment: _This is it. This is home. This is our pack._

And in this pack, Dongwoo would make sure that there wouldn’t be any secrets. If Sunggyu wouldn't tell Myungsoo soon, he would. It was only right.

And omegas always had the final say.

* * *

But Sunggyu was right about one thing, now wasn’t the night to tell Myungsoo. It was too premature, and they were celebrating. All of them came back home, slightly drunk and hoarse from talking and laughing all night long. But before Dongwoo could follow Woohyun up the steps into their bedroom, he felt a tug on his sleeve. _Sunggyu._ The leader was looking up at him from underneath the lip of his hood. “Come with me,” he commanded, waving at the other to follow him. Curious, Dongwoo did, and the both of them ended up in the kitchen. Sunggyu walked over to the fridge, opened it, and took out a bottle of water. “Drink,” he urged, offering the bottle to Dongwoo. The omega took it and drank from it while watching Sunggyu get one for himself. _What is he up to? What does he want?_

“Thanks, hyung,” Dongwoo muttered before taking another swig. He then stared down at the bottle. _I’m being too suspicious,_ Dongwoo concluded. _He seems like a good guy. This is a good pack. He’s giving me water to grow…and not to be dehydrated._ Dongwoo rubbed his eyes _. I didn’t drink that much, but why do I feel like this? Why is everything hazy?_

“Sit down,” Sunggyu urged the other. “Don’t push yourself.”

Dongwoo opened his eyes, blinking a few times, until he could see the other clearly. _He thinks I’m going to kill myself._ The omega plopped down onto a stool, and when he rested his feet against the railings, he noticed his legs shaking and twitching. _Maybe I am_ , he thought as he rubbed his legs and took another drink.

“The surgery, to remove the glands.” Dongwoo sputtered, spitting water all over the countertop, and Sunggyu. The doctor groaned and wiped his face with his sleeve, but Dongwoo was too shocked to apologize. _He wants to talk about that? Now?_ Sunggyu did. “Do you still want it?” he mumbled while wincing at his now wet sleeve.

“I don’t really have time to think about it right now,” Dongwoo mumbled. And he really didn’t. School was his priority right now, and then after that, Woohyun, and then the pack, and lastly, himself. But now that Dongwoo could afford to think about it… _I do. I do still want it. Although I want to live as an omega now, it’s dangerous to stay like this._ It wasn’t about him pretending to be a beta anymore. There was another reason why he wanted the surgery. _It’s too dangerous_.

“Don’t get it.”

“Huh?” Dongwoo gasped. Sunggyu was looking at him, deathly serious.

The beta then looked away. “At least not now,” Sunggyu added. “You’re in bad shape because of the bond breaking. Your immune system is shot. You’re exhausted. I don’t even want to _think_ about the state of your hormones.” He shivered and then looked at Dongwoo again. “Not just…you know…the sexual kind, but up here too,” he clarified, pointing towards his own head. “And…your heat…” he took a swig from his water before continuing. As a doctor he could say it, but as a potential packmate, as a leader, it was hard. “It’s probably irregular until your body rebounds,” his voice was small.

Dongwoo laughed. “Yea, I’ve noticed how _irregular_ it is.”

Sunggyu grinned. “It’s one of the few times that I’m glad I can’t smell,” he joked. “No offense.”

“Next time can you lend me your nose? I don’t want to smell it either,” Dongwoo asked. Sunggyu started to chuckle but it soon stopped, when Dongwoo reached over and pulled at his nose. The omega pretended to take Sunggyu’s nose and place it onto his own face, and then giving his nose to Sunggyu, by flipping over Sunggyu’s hand and ‘plopping’ it into his palm. Sunggyu stared down at the ‘nose’ in his hand speechlessly. Dongwoo then looked at his reflection in the window, checking out his ‘new nose.’ “Nah, I like mine better. Fits with my other features better. I’m handsome just the way I am,” he concluded. He then switched their noses again, pressing Sunggyu’s back onto his face. “You too. Handsome.”

Sunggyu studied the other carefully as he rubbed his nose. “You drunk?” he asked in all seriousness.

“No, I’m happy,” Dongwoo replied. But the spark of happiness dimmed and his stomach turned. _That’s right. He’s never seen me like this. He doesn’t know how I normally am_. Dongwoo looked down at the bottle in his hands, rolling it about. _Or how I used to be_.

“Good. Happy is good,” Sunggyu broke into his thoughts. Dongwoo raised his gaze to see Sunggyu with a tired but genuine smile. “I’m glad.” The spark flashed again, warming Dongwoo again. The omega grinned back. Sunggyu walked up to the other’s side and patted him on the back. “I’m going to bed. Night.” And with that he began to leave the kitchen.

“Night, hyung,” Dongwoo whispered back at him. “I’m just going to stay down here a little longer,” he said to no one in particular.

Or had someone heard him? Dongwoo heard feet padding quickly into the kitchen. He looked up. It was Sunggyu again. “Wait, there’s one more thing!” the doctor exclaimed, slightly panting.

“You noticed that I put your nose upside down?” Dongwoo retorted.

Sunggyu’s hand reflexively flew to his nose, feeling it out. Realizing that he fell for a lame joke, Sunggyu dropped his hand and sighed heavily. “Stop. I’m serious,” he growled.

“Okay,” the omega relented with a chuckle. “What is it?”

Sunggyu took in a deep breath and then made his way up to Dongwoo’s side, talking all the while, “If I remove the glands, it’ll take away the heat, yes. But you won’t be able to bond with someone again, or at least not as strongly as before. The parts of the reaction won’t fire off because you’ll be without some crucial hormones.” He paused and leaned against the counter next to Dongwoo, He put his hands in his pockets, facing away from Dongwoo, staring at the wall. “It’ll be weak and can be broken easily…if it forms at all.” He then rolled his head over towards the other, slowly raising his gaze. “That’s why I normally do it on patients who already have a mate,” he ended with a shy smile.

“Eh, you don’t need to worry about that, hyung,” Dongwoo tried to assuage his worries. He sighed and flipped the bottle in his hands. This was it. This was the real reason: “I’ve been thinking. Maybe I don’t bond well anyway, as I am now, or else it wouldn’t have broken so easily. Taehwan was just fine. He didn’t even break a sweat. And then there’s me.” He faced Sunggyu, with an awkward smile to match the other’s. “Myungsoo was right, I should be in the hospital right now, but I’m perfectly fine.” Sunggyu scoffed, and Dongwoo yielded, “Okay maybe not perfectly, but…what if I’m not as strong-willed as I think? What if it was just weak? I should still be in worse shape, right?” He spun towards the other, searching for an answer _. Sunggyu should know. He’s an expert at this. He’s seen this before. He’d tell me, right? Like he did for Jungyeop?_

But Sunggyu didn’t dare to look at him. Instead, he was staring at the wall again, playing with the strings of his hoodie. “I don’t know,” he muttered below his breath. Dongwoo scoffed. _He’s treating me like Myungsoo. He doesn’t want me to know_. Then Sunggyu stepped and faced the other. “But I also don’t doubt how determined you are,” he reasoned. “People cope with break-ups differently.”

 _Does he really not know? Or is he just protecting me?_ Dongwoo wanted to know, so he prodded the other, “It wasn’t just a break-up, _doctor_. You know that.” But it didn’t work. Sunggyu didn’t flinch. He just stared at Dongwoo, strong and steady. Dongwoo sighed and stood up from the stool. He didn’t know what to make of that, what to make of anything. “I think, I’m better off solo,” he didn’t know what to make of that thought that just slipped through is mouth. But it sounded more appealing than it should.

The only sound that could be heard for the next few seconds was Sunggyu rapping his fingers against the counter and the bottle crunching in Dongwoo’s hands. Maybe Sunggyu didn’t know what to make of all of this either, but he knew one thing: “It’s too late to be talking about something like this,” he said. He then took a step, and another, closer to Dongwoo and hugged him. It was one of the stranger things to happen that night. Hugging wasn’t strange. Dongwoo was a hugger. He loved hugs and gave them freely. Heck, he and Myungsoo began hugging each other as a greeting after his first day as a ‘pack.’ What was strange was the fact that it came from Sunggyu. _Sunggyu…he knows how to hug?_ He did. It nice, warm, and quick. He let go of Dongwoo almost as quickly as he latched on. “Good night. Get some sleep, okay?” Sunggyu said before scampering back out of the room.

“Oh, okay. Good night, hyung,” the omega wished his fleeing leader. Dongwoo sighed, which slowly turned into a yawn, and he rubbed his eyes. _Why did he do that? Did I look like I needed it?_ When he opened his eyes again, he glanced over at his reflection in the window. _I do. I do look like it._ “It’s too late for this. I need to go to bed.”

Tomorrow, or the next, later, much much later Dongwoo would let himself think about his again, whether he was capable of falling in love again, but for right now, this omega would sleep.

* * *

_It’s too late to be talking about something like this,_ Sunggyu had just said that just a few minutes prior, but now as he was lying in bed, he couldn’t stop thinking about _this_ : “I think, I’m better off solo.” Sunggyu said that out loud as he squirmed in his bed, trying to get more comfortable. “Aish,” he cursed. “What’s with us?” He had one member of his pack who was crazy about finding a mate and was going on blind dates and prowling constantly. And then there was Dongwoo who was starting to think that he was better off without a mate. Myungsoo wasn’t any better. He was probably worse because he wouldn’t even think of mating until Sunggyu had found one. And finally, there was himself, Kim Sunggyu, to round out this miserable, lovesick (in their own rights) pack.

Sunggyu wished that he could be like Dongwoo and realize his limits, accepting that being ‘solo’ might be for the best. Or even being like Myungsoo would be fine. But instead, he was like Woohyun. Sunggyu wanted a mate. He wanted one really, really badly, maybe even more than Woohyun did. And there was a point in his life when he tried just as hard to find one, going on dates with perfect strangers, prowling at bars and clubs. All of it was fruitless and lasted no longer than one night of conversation. There were no follow-up phone calls. No second dates. They all stopped at the same point, when they all learned about his defect.

Sunggyu wished that he could tell them that his defect didn’t matter, that it wouldn’t affect their relationship or their bond. But that would be a lie. Sunggyu witnessed it firsthand, because there was one encounter he had that didn’t end after a night. No, there had been a second date, and then a third, and many many more. It was a full-fledged relationship, lasting for a little over a year.

Her name was Boram. She was a female beta and was a classmate of Sunggyu. Then later, they became coworkers at the Hospital. While they were both practicing medicine, Boram was studying how to make female betas fertile. It had been a point that she was passionate in (for both personal and professional reasons) and one that she later pursued, but before she did, they started dating after years of being ‘just classmates.’ And they had been serious. She had met his pack, and he had met hers. And they were on the cusp of starting their own.

The night started with a dinner at a romantic and elegant restaurant with a price tag to match, but it was the place to do the sort of thing Sunggyu had planned: proposing. And he did propose. She accepted. And then they proceeded towards the next step, going to the equally pricy hotel across the street so that they could cement their relationship with a bond.

For Sunggyu, it was like going through a procedure. After monitoring their relationship for so long, he noted it was time to take the plunge, and she agreed, giving her full consent. She knew full well that the proposal was coming that night. So they went out. He gave her flowers. They ate an expensive meal, drank expensive wine. He proposed without any flourish, just pulling the ring box from his pocket. And she accepted by putting it on. They then walked over to the hotel in silence. Sunggyu checked them in. They rode the elevator to their floor and then went into the room. Right as the door closed, they began kissing. They took all the necessary steps, followed the procedure exactly, precisely.

But there’s nothing sexy about following procedures.

It was while they were both on the bed, in their underwear, with their clothes carefully discarded, Boram rolled away, right as Sunggyu was about to kiss her again. She laid there on her stomach, face pressed into the pillow, still. Sunggyu sat on his knees, waiting for her to move, for her to come back. He’d thought she was being uncharacteristically shy, but what they were doing was something that they’ve never done before. And he was a bundle of nerves himself. He thought that all she needed was time. But then she screamed into the pillow.

“Y-yah!” he yelped. He crept over towards her, putting his hand on her back. “Are you okay?”

“No,” her voice was muffled by the pillow, but he could still hear her loud and clear. But In case he hadn’t, Boram lifted herself up and faced him, with wet eyes. “No, I’m not okay,” she repeated in a quivering voice. She then slid off the bed and began to pick up her clothes from where she placed them over a chair. “We’re not okay,” she mumbled, slipping her skirt back on. After putting her shirt back on, she continued to talk to a stunned Sunggyu. “This isn’t working.”

Sunggyu regained sense of mind and jumped off the bed. “What do you mean?” he demanded of her as he walked over.

“Gyu, you were second in our class. Don’t play dumb,” Boram replied distractedly, looking at her reflection as she put her necklace back on. She then spun to face him, an apologetic smile on her lips. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be,” she had a hard time admitting that. Her voice was cracking. It was like she didn’t want it to be true.

“But you knew about my…condition,” he argued, crossing his arms over his chest, all too aware of how naked he still was. “We knew that this would be…different. You were okay with that.”

“I was, yes,” she yielded. Her face paled, and she leaned against the wall with her eyes fixed on the floor. “But I’m not anymore. I…I don’t want to settle.” Boram sniffed and wiped her both of her cheeks with her hands. She then lifted her head, showing her tears to Sunggyu. “How can I settle when I know full well what it’s _supposed_ to be like?” she argued, voice breaking. “I want a _real_ bond. I’ve always wanted a real bond. It might’ve been naïve of me, but I thought that if I got you to this point, everything would’ve somehow worked out. But look at us!” she exclaimed, gesturing between them. “We’re this far long and neither of our instincts triggered! We were supposed to lose control by now. Go wild and…well, you know as well as I do,” she lowered her voice near the end. Sunggyu scoffed and sat on the bed, shaking his head. He might’ve been shaking his head, but she was right. All of this was wrong. He’d followed the procedure exactly but it still ended up as a disaster. “We never lost control,” Boram repeated, thinking that he still needed convincing. “Do you want to know what I was doing? Hm? While we were kissing, I was thinking of new iterations of a fertility experiment. I came up with about thirteen of them.” She sputtered into a short laugh at that, but more tears spilled down her cheeks. “I was thinking of work while we were trying to have sex and that isn’t right!” She took in a shaky breath and then looked up at Sunggyu again. “I’m sorry, Sunggyu, but this isn’t going to work. I don't think I can do it.”

Sunggyu huffed. “What if it isn’t because of me?” he argued. He then narrowed his eyes on her. “Maybe it’s because you’re a beta.”

“Yah!” Boram snapped and threw the nearest thing (which thankfully was Sunggyu’s sweater) at him. “Kim Sunggyu! Don’t act like that! Don’t pin this on me!” she shouted, heaving. She looked for something else to throw at him and settled for the rest of Sunggyu’s clothes, throwing them at him one by one as she spoke (shoes included): “You _know_ it’s not because I’m a beta. We can still bond like everyone else, even though we can’t…re-reproduce.” She whimpered, letting out fresh, hot tears. She covered her face and fell back against the wall. “We’re still given a chance to find love. Like we deserve.”

“Don’t I deserve it too?” Sunggyu grumbled, looking away. He didn’t like seeing her cry, and he hated making her cry. But now he was on the verge of tears himself. “I deserve love too!” he raised his voice, this time, looking at her straight on.

Boram shook her head, which almost made Sunggyu shout again, but his throat was too tight. If he spoke now, he’d surely cry. So he held it in. However, Boram was shaking her head for another reason: “I never said you didn’t, Sunggyu. I just meant that…we’re not…in love. Not like we should be.”

“I didn’t notice that there was a difference,” Sunggyu mumbled as he put his shirt on.

“Of course there is,” Boram retorted as she slipped her heels on. She then faced him again. “Just because I’m a scientist, doesn’t mean that I think love is something that can be artificially created under the right conditions or something that can be…injected or whatever,” she blubbered and stepped over towards Sunggyu, crouching down to his level. Boram placed a hand on his knee. “Look at us. We had all of the ‘right’ conditions, followed all the steps, and we still failed because we’re missing something in here,” she said, now laying her hand over her heart. “And that’s something that all of the science in the world could never replicate.”

Sunggyu turned away, with his back facing her. “Whatever,” he grumbled. “We didn’t fail because of me.”

“Yah!” He felt a sharp slap on his back. He swung his head back around to glare at her. “I didn’t say we did. I was pointing at my heart, not your nose,” she pointed out. “But…” she paused, biting her lip as she stood back up. “It could’ve been your nose…”

“Y-yah! You just said…”

“OR…” she cut him off, “…it could be me. Sunggyu, I don’t know what’s wrong here, which is why I don’t know how to make it right.” She walked over to the door, taking her coat off of the hook next to the door. As she was slipping it on, Boram kept talking. “I want things to be right, for the both of us. I want each of us to mate with our true loves.” Sunggyu scoffed at that. He never knew Boram had thought such things. She’d always seemed so rational. But true love? Did such a thing exist in a world like theirs? “Scoff all you want, Sunggyu. I probably deserve it. But I hope you understand me. Do you?” Sunggyu answered with nothing but silence. So Boram walked over to him, not allowing him to ignore her. “You’re a sweet guy, Sunggyu. You’ll probably meet your true love before I do,” she said and pressed a kiss to the side of his head, as if it was any comfort to him now. He knew what it meant. It was a goodbye.

“Fine, I understand,” he relented in a gruff voice, shrugging her off and scooting down the bed. “Now get out.”

“Okay,” she said in a low whisper and walked towards the door. “You’ll find someone, Sunggyu. I just know it.” And with that she left.

When the door closed, Sunggyu was left alone in the dimly lit room. He fell back onto the bed, arms stretched out, finally letting his tears free.

“I thought that someone was you.”

The next day, Sunggyu checked out of the hotel and returned to his pack, who were all surprised to seem him return and unmated. Reluctantly (days later), he told them the truth, and that’s when his parents concluded that he was asexual, which was only ‘confirmed’ when Hyungdon performed his ‘experiment’ with Minyoung days later. The alpha wanted to prove to everyone that his nephew had nothing wrong with him, but instead proved all of their suspicions as correct. Something was seriously wrong with Sunggyu.

This was all before Myungsoo joined the pack. Whether Myungsoo knew about Boram or not, Sunggyu didn’t know. But he did know that his former pack had loose lips and Myungsoo had more tact than to bring up such a sore subject. And because they never talked about it, Sunggyu hadn’t thought of that night in the hotel room in a long, long while.

And Boram, even though they run into each other frequently at conferences, he hadn’t thought about her like that for just as long as time, as someone he loved. But as time passed, he questioned if it truly was love back then. Boram had never been happier than she had been recently. And as for Sunggyu himself, if he was still with Boram, he would have probably never opened the clinic, never performed the landmark surgery on the male omega. So he guessed that things turned out for the best, even if he was still single.

“Oh,” Sunggyu muttered as he bolted up straight in his bed. He rolled over, picking his phone up from his nightstand. “I wonder…” he mumbled under his breath as he scrolled through his contacts and made a phone call.

“I know, I know. It’s late, but I have a favor to ask.”

* * *

“Oh! Dongwoo, it’s you! Are you free tomorrow?”

“Me?” Dongwoo asked as he pointed at himself. He’d just come back from classes, looked around for anybody nearby to greet them, and saw the doctor laying on the couch with his eyes closed. Dongwoo was about to back out of the room as quietly as he could, but then Sunggyu suddenly sat up straight, giving Dongwoo a fright, and asked the question. “Yea, I can make time,” Dongwoo stammered out an answer. “Why?”

“There’s someone I’d like you to meet,” Sunggyu replied as he got up from the couch with a creaking back and groans. Yawning and rubbing his back, he walked up to the omega and continued, “He’s agreed to have lunch with us, if you’re up for it.”

“Okay,” Dongwoo responded quickly. He didn’t need to think much about it; he wanted to grow closer to his other packmates, especially since the trial was almost over. “But who is it, hyung? Who are we meeting with?” Dongwoo asked with a slight chuckle.

Sunggyu sniggered with a cheeky smile on his lips. “It’s a secret,” he replied, putting a finger to his lips. The doctor then scurried past the other, running up the stairs.

“Hyung!” Dongwoo called after him and followed him up the stairs. “Who is it?”

“Secret!” Sunggyu chirped back and went into his bedroom. Dongwoo stood in the hallway for a few seconds, staring at the closed door. _What is he up to?_ The omega clicked his tongue and cocked his head, going into his own bedroom.

“What’s with the weird look on your face?” Woohyun remarked from his bed, looking up from his phone’s screen up to his roommate.

“Sunggyu-hyung asked me to have lunch with him tomorrow,” Dongwoo answered as he put his bookbag down and plopped onto his own bed. “He wants me to meet someone.”

Woohyun rolled over onto his side to get a better look at him. “Who is it?” he asked.

Dongwoo shrugged. “He won’t tell me.”

“Hm? That’s weird,” Woohyun replied, sitting up on his bed.

“That hyung is a bit weird,” Dongwoo retorted with a chuckle.

“He is, but…” Woohyun paused to look down at his phone. “…we are too.” He looked up and smiled. “You know, for just stumbling into a pack, we stumbled into a good one.”

“We did,” Dongwoo agreed. _I really hope that we can stay_ , the omega wished. The end of their trial was coming up in two days. Myungsoo liked them, and Sunggyu seemed to too. But just because they made good friends, didn’t mean that they’d be a good pack. Liking each other wouldn’t be enough. _Taehwan liked me too._

“Don’t be so nervous,” Woohyun comforted the other, walking over to Dongwoo’s bed and sitting down next to him. “I’m sure he’s introducing you to someone completely normal tomorrow,” he said, patting the other on the leg. Dongwoo chuckled. _That wasn’t what I was nervous about_. Woohyun then joked, “If it’s a pretty girl, give her my number. If she isn’t pretty…give her my number anyway.”

“Yah! Nam-goon!” Dongwoo exclaimed, playfully showing the other. “If it’s a girl, I’m not introducing her to you. You have enough.”

“But none that I like,” Woohyun retorted, with a whine and pout. Then he smirked. “You know, hyung’s secretary wasn’t bad looking. She was funny too. What was her name again?”

“You touch Minyoung, you die.”

The both of them whipped their heads towards the door. “O-oh, Myungsooo,” Dongwoo stammered. The accountant was in the doorway with his eyes fixed as a deadly glare onto Woohyun. “You’re home?”

Myungsoo’s eyes then quickly softened as he looked over to the omega. He smiled and nodded. “Eung. It’s time for dinner too! Let’s eat!” he announced and left the doorway. Dongwoo could hear him going down the stairs and enter the kitchen.

“When did Myungsoo get so scary?” Woohyun mumbled, still looking at the doorway.

“You,” Dongwoo replied, nudging his friend. “You’re the scary one.”

“I am. I am,” Woohyun readily agreed and got up from the bed. “Yah, come on. Let’s go eat.”

“Don’t you have a date?” Dongwoo asked as he got up too.

Woohyun shook his head. “Nope. I need a break,” he answered. Then a weird, unsure half-smile flashed across his face. “I’d rather spend the night with you guys. Who knows how long we can be like this?”

 _Ah, so he’s nervous about it too_. Dongwoo put his arm around the other’s shoulder. “I’m sure for a long, long time,” he was trying to convince himself as well as the other at the same time.

“I hope so. I really do.”

 _Me too. I hope we can too_.

* * *

Dongwoo was still holding unto that hope the next afternoon, as he and Sunggyu were sitting in silence at a café. The doctor had asked him to eat lunch, but now they weren’t even talking with each other. It was awkward. _Why is it still awkward between us?_ Dongwoo stared out the window and sighed. _Can we really continue like this?_ Fed up with the silence, Dongwoo finally broke it, “Why did you ask me here, hyung? Just to eat in silence?” He cut his words with a laugh.

“Ah no,” Sunggyu stammered, waving his hands. “I wanted you to meet someone.”

“Ah, right,” Dongwoo had forgotten about that. “Who is it?”

Sunggyu smiled proudly. “Remember how you said that you didn’t know any male omegas besides yourself?” Dongwoo nodded curiously in response. “You won’t be able to say that after today,” the doctor revealed.

“Wh-what?”

“The guy that I performed the surgery on, I asked him to talk with you,” Sunggyu responded, grinning as if he’d just successfully performed the surgery moments ago.

“O-oh,” Dongwoo stuttered, suddenly growing anxious but also excited. _Someone like me?_

“Good idea, right? I’m full of them,” the beta bragged. He then sat up straighter in his chair, looking at the door, awaiting the guest. “He should be coming soon,” Sunggyu announced.

“What’s his name?” Dongwoo asked, bouncing in his seat.

“Oh!” Sunggyu gasped. “There his is!” He stood up and waved at the incomer to join them. “Over here!”

Dongwoo jumped up too, grinning broadly, and turned towards the door. This was it. Dongwoo would finally not feel alone in the world, and there was someone else like him. And he was tall, slender, with long hair brushing against his eyelashes. Dongwoo walked up to him with his arm outstretched, ready to greet hi. “Oh, hello! My name is Jang Dongwoo. You must be…”

“Lee Sungjong,” the other cut him off, taking Dongwoo’s hand and shaking it warmly. Sungjong then nodded over to the man just a few steps behind him and announced. “I’m his alpha.”

Dongwoo grew flustered. “Oh, you’re not…” his voice dropped. He could hear the beta snigger at his mistake and feel him hitting his back.

But the embarrassment was soon replaced with elation when the other man introduced himself, “I’m Lee Sungyeol, fellow male omega. Nice to meet you.” Dongwoo looked over and took the other in for the first time, his fellow omega. Sungyeol, he was even taller than Sungjong, with a toothy grin to match Dongwoo’s. _I wonder if that’s an omega trait?_ Dongwoo wondered as he studied the other in amazement. _He smells like me too. But…how is he so tall?_ Sungyeol must’ve felt uncomfortable by the other’s intense gaze. He slipped his hand out of Dongwoo’s grasp and asked, “Uh, so we should sit down?”

“Ah, right,” Dongwoo blubbered and plopped down in his own chair. His eyes followed the omega sit down across from him, but then he caught the alpha out of the corner of his eye, who sat down next to his packmate. “Excuse me, but why are you…” Dongwoo didn’t want to finish the question and seem rude.

Luckily, Sungjong didn’t seem to take offense. “I thought it would be nice to hear a perspective from a _supportive_ alpha,” he replied. He then leaned closer to Dongwoo and whispered, “They do exist.”

“Of course,” Dongwoo chirped. “It’s good to meet you too, Sungjong-ssi.”

“So how do we do this? What do you want me to say?” Sungyeol asked, wanting to get down to business. He pointed over to Sunggyu. “This guy calls me up randomly in the middle of the night and asks if I can talk about ‘omega stuff’ with you. Completely vague.”

“Aish,” Sunggyu cursed, face growing red. “You know what I mean.”

“I assure you, I have _no_ idea,” Sungyeol argued, shaking his head frantically as he leaned back in his chair comfortably. He then shifted his gaze over to Dongwoo. “I’m sure you already know enough about ‘omega stuff.’ You’ve probably been one longer than I have,” Sungyeol remarked. “He made it seem like you _just_ got your Type Test back. How old are you?” After Dongwoo told the other his age, Sungyeol clapped his hands together and exclaimed, “See. That’s older than me!” Sungyeol looked over at the doctor. “He knows full well.”

“But Dongwoo’s never met another omega like him,” Sunggyu argued.

Sungyeol’s eyes grew wide. “Really? Never?” he asked the omega.

“You have?” Dongwoo turned the question around. “Do you know other omegas?”

“Eung,” Sungyeol hummed, answering casually as if it were a matter of course. “I know a few. I’ll introduce you to them.”

“Great!” Dongwoo exclaimed, bouncing again in his seat. He couldn’t contain his excitement any longer. “I’d like that. I’d like that a lot,” he added, laughing. “Are they all tall like you? I’d thought you’d be more like my height,” Dongwoo finally asked, straightening himself up, trying to measure himself against the other.

“It varies, just like with all guys,” Sungyeol answered simply.

“Oh,” Dongwoo muttered, slipping back down in his seat. He suddenly felt silly after asking the question. _I guess it makes sense. Of course it would be like that._

But now Sunggyu sat up straighter. “See. Omega stuff. He’s lived his whole life as one, but there’s still things he doesn’t know,” he explained to Sungyeol and defended his omega. Sunggyu then nudged the other in the arm. “Do you have any questions for him?” he prompted Dongwoo.

“I do,” Dongwoo responded with a nod. He then faced the other omega. “Why did you get the surgery?”

“The heat,” Sungyeol answered, while slamming his hand against the table for emphasis. He then leaned against his elbows and came closer to Dongwoo. “It’s kind of useless for us, isn’t it?” Sungyeol declared. “It’s not like we can have kids. It gives us nothing but trouble.”

“Right. I agree!” Dongwoo exclaimed, clapping his hand. “There’s no point in having it. No point at all.”

“You should get it too then!” Sungyeol concluded, acting as if it were a done deal right then and there. And for Dongwoo, it almost was, almost. Sungyeol then said something which made him immediately reconsider getting the surgery done: “Right after I mated, I realized that I _really_ didn’t need it anymore. We made the bond. Why else did I need it? So I got rid of it, and I feel great.”

“Ah. You have a mate,” Dongwoo muttered under his breath. He then glanced over at Sunggyu out of the corner of his eye. _Of course, he said that he wouldn’t perform the surgery on someone without a mate_. Recollecting that, Dongwoo sighed heavily.

“Yea, and she’s great,” Sungyeol answered, his voice suddenly getting higher. He looked down, picking at his silverware. The tips of his ears were becoming red. He then gestured over to the beta. “I actually met her through this guy.” Dongwoo glanced over to the doctor, who was focusing on the glass in his hand, swirling it around as he nodded. The omega cocked an eyebrow, studying him. _Why isn’t he bragging about it? He brags about everything._

Dongwoo shook that question out of his head and replaced it with another: “Did anything change between you and your mate after the surgery?”

“No. I can answer that for them. Nothing changed,” Sungjong cut off his packmate from responding. He then grimaced. “They’re gross.” He must’ve seen Sungyeol scowling at him out of the corner of his eye because Sungjong quickly amended his statement, “Gross in the best way possible. Lovey-dovey! I meant it like that.”

Pleased with that, Sungyeol turned his attention back to Dongwoo. “Honestly some things changed,” he commented. “But I think things are better now. She’s a beta, and I used to feel guilty when I had it. She really wanted to have kids of her own.”

“Did she know?” Dongwoo asked vaguely.

“Know what? That I was an omega?” Sungyeol guessed at what he meant.

Dongwoo nodded. “Yea.”

“Of course! I told her right up front,” Sungyeol stated proudly. “Lee Sungyeol. Omega. You don’t like it? Then leave!” he ‘reenacted,’ waving his hand as he ‘dismissed’ the imaginary person. Dongwoo laughed as he clapped his hands at the other’s performance. _Yea, that’s how it should be done_.

Sunggyu snorted. “It’s a miracle that she didn’t leave right then,” he teased.

“This face, this kept her around,” Sungyeol retorted, waving around his face and gaining a sputtering laugh from everyone, including himself. “Ah, I’m just kidding,” he admitted after the laughter died down. He then looked over at Dongwoo. “What else do you want to know?”

“Everything,” Dongwoo replied. And indeed he wanted to know everything, but unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time. After filling up the rest of their time with one question right after the other, no matter how silly they might have been, like “What’s your favorite color?” or “Can you do this? No? Then how about this?” Luckily, Sungyeol found the conversation just as amusing and fruitful as Dongwoo did, and he invited Dongwoo to join his club of male omegas. While he was giving Dongwoo the details of their ‘meetings,’ Dongwoo noticed something out of the corner of his eye, Sungjong. It was good that Sungjong came along. Dongwoo, like Woohyun, had formed a bit of a prejudice against them after Taehwan, but Sungjong cleared those all away. Just like Sungyeol was tall and Dongwoo was short, alphas differed from person to person too. Sungjong, yes, was a bit of a pushover, easily knocked around and teased by his packmate. But Sungjong was more of an alpha in subtle ways, like clearing the table as everyone was talking and reminding Sungyeol that they had to get going. They had a schedule to keep, and Sungjong kept them on task. _He really is a supportive alpha._

* * *

Sunggyu grinned proudly to himself as the four of them the left restaurant. Dongwoo and Sungjong were in front of him, making plans to meet each other again. _Look at that_ , Sunggyu thought to himself as those two exchanged phone numbers. _Who would’ve thought that the kid could make friends so easily? This was a really good idea._ Sunggyu then recalled Woohyun telling him that Dongwoo had changed. _Because of the break-up probably_ , he concluded. The doctor smiled, seeing Dongwoo laugh boisterously at something that the alpha had said. _Is this how he normally is? He’s not gloomy at all._

“Noona says hi, by the way,” Sungyeol said as he came up to Sunggyu’s side.

Sunggyu sighed and asked, “How is Boram?”

“Good. But busy,” Sungyeol replied. He then screwed his face with worry and revealed, “I think she’s losing her mind a bit with all of her research at the lab. Look!” He yanked up the sleeve of his shirt and showed the doctor his forearm. It was bruised, and Sunggyu could see small indents littered about in an arc shape. A bite mark. “That was her!” Sungyeol exclaimed, looking as shocked as if it had just happened. “We weren’t even doing anything, just watching t.v., and she picked up my arm, bit me, and put it right back down as if she did nothing. She’s weird,” he remarked, pulling his sleeve back down.

 _She was never like that with me_ , Sunggyu thought, his eyes still fixed on the arm. _We were always in control. She was right_. Sunggyu forced a smile onto his face, which felt tight and slightly painful. “I’m glad to see that you two are getting along,” he told the other.

Sungyeol genuinely smiled, patting his arm tenderly. “Yea, things are _really_ good,” he said. “Really good.”

Sunggyu averted his eyes and settled on his new packmate, who was now shouting something about being an omega. The beta smirked. _And this was the kid who was hiding it? He’s practically telling the whole world now_. He then felt warmth spread through his chest. He was proud, proud of Dongwoo making such a change in such a small amount of time. _I helped him with that…and Sungyeol too…and of course Woohyun…Myungsoo…okay it was a group effort_. Sunggyu shook his head and looked over at Sungyeol again. “Thanks for talking to Dongwoo for me,” he expressed his gratitude with words and with a light pat on the other’s shoulder.

“No problem. Us omegas have to stick up for each other,” Sungyeol responded. He then searched for his fellow omega. “Dongwoo-ssi!” Dongwoo perked up and looked over at the other. Sungyeol grinned and raised his hands over his head, creating an ‘o’ shape. Dongwoo squared up to him and did the same. “O-code!” they both exclaimed in unison and laughed shortly afterwards. Sunggyu frowned at that, not liking being excluded. Sungyeol noticed it. “Eh, it’s an omega thing. You won’t understand,” he explained. He then jogged up to Sungjong. “Come on, Jjong. Let’s go. We’re already late. Bye, everybody!”

“Bye!”

When they all said their goodbyes, Dongwoo came up to the beta’s side. “Thanks for introducing me to him,” he said. “It’s nice to have someone to talk to about this.”

“Yea, I thought it would be,” Sunggyu boasted slightly. He then put his arm around the omega’s shoulders and brought him in close. He still felt proud of Dongwoo for being able to be so open like this. “Let’s go home.”

“Home?” Dongwoo repeated. “Home sounds good!”

Sunggyu’s smile shrank but still remained as they walked home. Dongwoo was able to be completely open about his omega-ness now, but would he be able to be open with his heart again? Sunggyu wanted him too. _You’re a nice guy, Dongwoo. You’ll probably meet your true love before I do…just like Boram did. Just like everyone will_. Sunggyu glanced over at the omega and sighed. _Don’t be like me. Don’t give up_.

* * *

Woohyun slowly, hesitantly walked down the stairs the next morning. It was Sunday, and this particular trial brought the end to the two-week trial. Woohyun stopped at the last step, taking in a deep breath. _What’s going to happen now? What’s going to happen to us?_

“Oh! Good morning, Woohyun-hyung!” Woohyun perked up his head and saw Myungsoo stopping right in front of him with a bag in his hand. “What are you doing?” the accountant asked him.

Woohyun sighed. “I don’t know,” he replied honestly.

Myungsoo chuckled. “Okay, well, whenever you’re done with that, let’s eat. I bought us breakfast,” he said, showing off the bag with a great grin. He then left the other on the stairs and went into the kitchen.

“What am I doing?” Woohyun asked himself when the other was gone. He descended down the final step and entered into the kitchen as well. Myungsoo was happily setting the table for the four of them. Woohyun puffed his cheeks. _Well, that’s a good sign, isn’t it?_ He took in a deep breath and breeched the subject, “So, um, it’s Sunday.”

“It is!” Myungsoo replied as he sat down and began to make his own dish.

Woohyun pulled out a chair and sat down in it. “The trial is up,” he reminded the other.

“Oh,” Myungsoo gasped. “That’s right.” He then began eating.

“So…” Woohyun drawled out as he watched the other eat. “…what’s the verdict?” he pressed him.

“Well…” Myungsoo swallowed his food and wiped his mouth. “If hyung hasn’t kicked you out by now, I’d say that you passed,” he finished his reply.

Woohyun finally relaxed, deflating in his chair. “We’re a part of the pack?” he wanted someone to explicitly say it, to put his worries to rest.

“Yup,” a gruff voice answered in Myungsoo’s stead. It was Sunggyu, who made a beeline for the coffeepot. After pouring himself a mug, Sunggyu raised it to Woohyun. “Congrats,” he spoke, voice still tired and lifeless. And then he walked over and joined them at the table.

Stunned, Woohyun watched the leader, his new leader, sit down with wide eyes. “Thanks,” he replied back in a voice just as tired.

“Good morning, everybody!” Dongwoo shouted as he entered the kitchen, too cheerful and loud for a Sunday morning. But it seemed like he’d already been up for awhile. He was wearing jogging clothes and was coated in sweat. Hm? He hasn’t run in awhile, Woohyun noted as the omega pulled a bottle of water from the fridge. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” Dongwoo exclaimed to the others, but all he got in reply was a vague grumble from Sunggyu and satisfied hum from Myungsoo, who had his mouth full. So he looked towards his old friend for a response.

“Dongwoo, we passed the trial,” Woohyun told him.

“Oh cool!” Dongwoo cheered and then took a drink from his bottle.

Woohyun groaned and hung his head. “This is all very anticlimactic,” he muttered lowly.

“I think it’s exciting,” Dongwoo argued as he walked over to Myungsoo’s side and put his hand on the back of his chair. The omega smiled as he looked down at his new packmate. “I like it.”

Myungsoo gave him a smile right back. He then leaned forward, looking past the omega to their leader. “Hyung, should we register now? We’ve got enough members for it,” he asked.

“Can’t,” Sunggyu curtly replied as he got up from his chair.

“Why?!” Woohyun exclaimed. “Why not?” _Don’t they want us?_

“No alpha,” Sunggyu left them with that and walked out of the room.

“Wait!” Woohyun commanded and jumped up from his seat, but Sunggyu kept on walking and went up the stairs. So Woohyun followed him, shouting all the while, “What do you mean? Hyung!”

Dongwoo shook his head as he watched Woohyun stalk the other up the stairs and began laughing when he heard Sunggyu scream loudly, “Don’t follow me into the bathroom! Get out!”

Dongwoo bit back his laughter and looked down at Myungsoo, his new packmate in name only. Suddenly, it wasn’t funny anymore. “Right, we’ll have to be an unofficial pack,” he thought aloud. “We won’t have any privileges as one, if I were to get sick or…”

“We’d still help you,” Myungsoo assured him, patting the hand that was still resting on the back of his chair. But he soon retracted it, and propped his elbows onto the table, cupping his chin and though aloud himself, “I’m more worried about taxes. Packs get deductions. But since we all are technically strays…” He started to run the calculations in his head, spewing out numbers and letters that made no sense to Dongwoo. The omega sighed and sat down in the chair that Woohyun had just left.

_What are we going to do?_

“Rude.” Woohyun was now back downstairs, but was glaring up them, at Sunggyu. “He didn’t even answer my question.” He then huffed and shook his head, walking back into the kitchen. “I guess one of us will have to mate with a nice, _docile_ alpha,” he announced to the other two. Well, he announced it to them, but was mainly addressing Dongwoo, as he was staring down at him.

“Don’t look at me,” Dongwoo declined the job. “I gave up on love. Pass!”

Myungsoo stopped reckoning accounts and was now pondering about the missing, crucial type in their pack: “Female alphas are pretty rare. And they tend to be lone wolves.”

“And scary,” Woohyun added with a shiver. He raised his hand. “I call not it!”

“Not it!” Dongwoo repeated, not even a second later.

“Looks like you’ll have to find the alpha,” Woohyun gave the charge over to Myungsoo. He then left the kitchen, declaring, “I’m moving into the free room, okay?” Dongwoo watched his friend leave. That’s right. There was no point in them sharing a room anymore. And now that they were staying, they could establish some space for themselves. Dongwoo’s eyes flicked over towards the window. _Maybe I should work on my garden now._

“Find the alpha, huh?”

Dongwoo’s eyes fell back down to the beta who was seriously considering the charged that Woohyun had graciously given him. “I think he was joking,” Dongwoo clarified. “Plus, I like it the way it is, even if it is unofficial. It’s more comfortable. And I like Gyu-hyung leading. He’s good at it. I’d follow him for 10 years, no 100 maybe a 1000 years.” He laughed and stood up from the table. “Yes, it’s good to be home. I’m gonna clean up. I smell.” With that, he left the kitchen too and clambered up the stairs, which now left Myungsoo alone in the kitchen, still stuck on one thought:

“Find the alpha.”

* * *

“An alpha. Where would I find one?”

Myungsoo shuffled his feet, kicking at the pavement as he walked down the street. He knew that Woohyun was joking, but the truth of the matter was that they _did_ need to find an alpha. They were naïve in thinking that they didn’t. However, Myungsoo was probably still naïve in thinking that he could find an alpha that would be willing to have Sunggyu as a leader and not be a leader himself. _Or herself_ , Myungsoo corrected himself. _Maybe a female alpha is the way to go, but…Minyoung_ …Myungsoo stopped in his tracks at a busstop and slumped onto a bench nearby.

He closed his eyes and encouraged himself, “I found Woohyun and I found Dongwoo. I can find an alpha too.” He then gulped. “I’ll do whatever it takes, even if that means…”

“Sir?” Myungsoo opened his eyes and whipped his head towards whoever had called him. It was man, slightly smaller than he was, but with a bigger frame. And by the smell of him, he was an alpha. _I wonder_ , Myungsoo pondered to himself as the alpha shifted nervously and pulled down the cap on his head. “Can I ask a favor from you?” the alpha asked.

“Sure,” Myungsoo replied with a forced smile.

“Great!” he exclaimed, looking very relieved. “Can you hold onto this for like…an hour? And then meet me back here?” he asked as he handed over a brown leather briefcase to Myungsoo.

“Uh, sure. I can do that,” Myungsoo took up the task, bringing the briefcase onto his lap. It was easy enough to do. _And then maybe later_ …Myungsoo took in a deep breath, girding himself, before asking, “Can I ask you something?”

“Yea, whatever,” the alpha gruffly responded. “Just make it quick.” Myungsoo scrunched his face. He didn’t like how the alpha said that. It was too rough. Too authoritative. _I’m doing him a favor and he isn’t being very nice. That isn’t a good sign_ , he concluded. “What is it? Ask!” the alpha spat.

“Um…” Myungsoo started but he was soon interrupted but the screeching wheels of the bus braking at the stop, followed by a blast of a whistle. “Hm?” Myungsoo whipped his head around and saw man sprint towards them with whistle in his mouth. The beta stood up instinctively, clutching the briefcase in his hands. “What’s going on?”

“Meet you back here in an hour!” the alpha shouted at him before jumping onto the bus with the other riders.

“Wha-where?” Myungsoo sputtered, looking around anxiously and noticing that the running man was almost upon him. The accountant took a step to the side, getting ready to run himself.

“Stop right there!” the running man spat out his whistle and yelled. But Myungsoo didn’t stop. He kept going, taking another step before he broke out into a sprint. _Who is this guy? Why does he want me? What did I do wrong?_ Myungsoo craned his neck back to get a better look at the man. _Crap!_ He was much closer than Myungsoo thought he would be. The man had fierce eyes, killer eyes. _Gangster_? “Stop!” the man growled again, and tackled Myungsoo down onto the pavement.

“Ow!” Myungsoo yelped as he was pressed down onto the ground. A knee was digging into his back. “What? What’s going on? What did I do?” he demanded an answer from the other.

The man scoffed. “What did you do wrong? You’re a thief!” he stated as if it were a matter of fact.

“Huh?” Myungsoo immediately stopped fighting the man. He felt the briefcase being torn out of his grasp. “Aish,” he cursed and wanted to melt into the pavement. _Don’t tell me_ …

“See!” the man exclaimed as he opened the briefcase and put it into Myungsoo’s face, showing him the glittering jewelry inside. There were only a few pieces, but quickly judging by how much they shined, it was easy to tell that they were expensive, incredibly expensive. “You’re nothing but a dirty thief,” the man growled as he reached behind him and took out his handcuffs. “You’re coming with me. You’re under arrest.”

* * *

“I’m sorry for calling you a dirty thief,” the man apologized. The man was a detective named Lee Howon, or that was what the plaque on his desk read. And Myungsoo had read it over and over again as he spent an hour sitting at the detective’s desk, handcuffed, under the careful watch of a rookie cop as the detective left to sort out the situation. Eventually, the detective concluded, based on the evidence and Myungsoo’s story (as well as eyewitnesses at the stop),that Myungsoo wasn’t, in fact, a dirty thief. He walked over to Myungsoo’s side and unlocked the handcuffs, freeing him. “I’m sorry about all of this, but I’m sure you understand. In my line of work, it’s better to err on the side of caution,” he excused himself as he walked back around and sat behind his own desk.

Myungsoo grinned in relief as he rubbed his wrists. “It’s alright, detective. I’m sorry for running away,” he apologized in turn. “I didn’t know you were the police. You were just trying to do your job.” He hung his head. “I wasn’t being helpful.”

“Eh, you were acting out of instincts, and I’m not in uniform. I probably would’ve run too,” Howon dismissed his worries.

“You’re lucky that you have me to cover your ass,” someone spoke up from the side. Myungsoo looked over and saw a tall, middle-aged man who was dressed similiarly to Howon, but he had a cocky smile on his face. Whereas, right now, Howon appeared to have lost all confidence in himself. The newcomer swaggered over to the desk and sat on the corner of it, facing Myungsoo. “Let’s keep this in between us three. My partner doesn’t need to be reprimanded by the Chief again,” he teased, casting his cheeky smile back to Howon.

Howon sighed, hanging his head and pretending to go over a form on his desk. “No, I don't,” he grumbled and set the paper aside.

“What are we going to do with you?” his partner lamented, standing back up and walked up to Howon’s side. When he was close enough, he put Howon into a headlock, pressing his cheek onto the other’s head. But it wasn’t a gesture of affection. The man was patronizing his partner. “Not only did you arrest the wrong guy, but you also lost the scent of the criminal. The thief was an alpha, and this kid is obviously a beta,” he revealed, swinging himself and Howon from side to side. He then let go of his partner and gave him a slap. “Yah, I thought alphas were supposed to have a better sense of smell than betas!”

“I’m not as experienced as you, hyung,” Howon reasoned, trying his best to ignore the other. But Myungsoo noticed that he was biting the inside of his cheek. _He’s so_ …Howon forced a grin, with clenched teeth, and told his partner, “I just need more practice.”

“You’re an alpha?” Myungsoo asked in disbelief.

Howon turned his attention towards the accountant and was blinking, dumbly. “Um, yea,” he muttered.

“He doesn’t smell like one, does he?” his partner jumped in. He looked over at Howon with a bright smile. “He doesn’t act like one either.” He then began to prove it by hitting Howon’s cheek, progressively harder every time, and praised, “This kid is very patient.”

“Please,” Howon politely begged as he pulled himself away from the partner. He then squirmed in his seat and raised his gaze up to Myungsoo. “I should probably see him out.”

“Right,” the partner agreed and let Howon be. “Give him a ride home too. It’s only right.”

“Ah, of course, hyung,” Howon readily agreed, watching his partner leave. And once he was out of sight, Howon finally relaxed. Myungsoo couldn’t fight back the grin forming on his face. _This is it!_ Howon stood up and gestured over to Myungsoo, silently asking him to do the same. “Would you like a ride home?”

But instead of answering his question, Myungsoo blurted out one of his own: “Detective, do you have a pack?”

Myungsoo had found their alpha. He was sure of it.


End file.
